MAORI LAND
FAIRY TALES
• EDITH HOWES-:
BOOK 398.2 1.H839M c. 1
HOWES # MAORILAND FAIRY TALES
3 T153 0012MZT? 5
Date Due
'
PRINTED
IN If. S. A.
MAORILAND FAIRY TALES.
SOME PRESS OPINIONS.
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trancing . . . will be warmly admired by every reader."
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Daily Graphic. — " These interesting and simply written
1 Maoriland Fairy Tales '."
Sheffield Daily Telegraph. — " They have a special and rare
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Eastern Morning News.—'1 We can promise young people a
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language."
MAORILAND FAIRY TALES
Mai-ama shows Ina the Moon-Land.
Maoriland Fairy Tales}
{Frontispiece
MAORILAND FAIRY
TALES
By
EDITH HOWES
Author of "The Sun's Babies," "Fairy Rings," ■■ Rainbow
Children," etc., eto
WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED
LONDON AND MELBOURNE
First Issued . April 191 3
Reprinted . August 191 3
Re-issued Crown 8vo . . May 19 16
Reprinted Large Cruwn Svo . . May 1920
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Wanderers . •
17
The Six Brothers
23
31
■ 35
How the Moon was Made
49
Brother and Sister
. 59
The Sea-King's Victory
■ 65
■ 73
• 79
. 89
The King and the Fairies
. IOI
Hatupatu • •
»
► in
1 121
• 131
Contents
PAGB
On the Moon . . . • • . . 139
The Wooden Head 147
The Fountain of Fish 151
Rata 155
The Island and the Taniwha • 169
The most Beautiful Maiden in the World . . 177
The Giant in the Cave 185
Tama and his Brother 191
Tama and his Wife 197
Sea- Goblins • . 207
The Great Bird of the Hills . 217
The Floating Island 225
The Princess and the Giant , . • 233
Hinemoa's Swim 239
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Marama shows Ina the Moon- Land (Coloured) Frontispiece
The Sky-Fairies surprise Tawhaki (Coloured) • . 45
The Sea-King is Angry (Coloured) 67
The Sea-weeds protect Maui 81
The Birds go with Maui 97
The Fairy Fishers (Coloured) 105
The Star Hunt 125
Rata and the Gnome 157
Tama's Flight across the Mountains .... 199
The Sea-Goblins' House 209
The Floating Island 229
THE WANDERERS
Somewhere far across the sea lies Hawa-iki,
that wonderful Motherland where the sun's rays
glow from early dawn to sudden night. Nobody
knows now where that old land is, nobody has
ever found it again, but its far-strewn sons and
daughters still tell of its remembered glories, its
radiant sunshine, its flowers and butterflies, its
white-topped mountains and its mighty streams.
Some think it may have been India, while others
say it must have been some age-old continent
which has since sunk and now lies buried under
the Pacific Ocean.
The brave people of that old Motherland were
ready for adventure. When wars and famine
drove them out from their ancient homes, they
said, " Let us set out across the sea that we may
find new homes in which to live."
17
18 Maoriland Fairy Tales
They sailed across tropical seas to the islands
of the Pacific, some now and some again, setting
up their homes where the cocoa-nut and bread-
fruit grow. There they lived their island lives,
swimming, diving, fishing, boating ; sometimes
making long voyages in their carved canoes far
out into the great unknown seas.
One voyager returned with tidings of a new
land seen far to the south, with white- topped
mountain peaks such as had shone in Hawa-iki.
" Let us go to that land. These islands are
already overfull/' said some.
They prepared for the voyage. They built
three great canoes, so long and wide that hundreds
of people could sit in them. They curved them
high at the prow, and ornamented them with
beautiful carving. They loaded them with food
and water and everything necessary for a long
voyage. Then those who were departing bade
farewell to friends and sailed across wide, lonely
seas to look for that new land.
At first the voyage went happily. The sun
shone, the sea was calm, the voyagers were gay.
But after many days, when all the songs were
The Wanderers 19
sung and all the stories told, and every one was
tired of sitting still so long, quarrels began and
blows seemed near.
Ngatoro the magician was there. He resolved
to put a stop to all quarrelling. With a mighty
spell he raised a storm so fierce that the
voyagers cried out in fear. Chanting more
loudly still, he drew a terrible whirlpool from
the depths of the sea. It rose in front of the
canoes. The people shrieked.
" Save us, Ngatoro ! " they begged. " We
quarrel no more."
Changing his spell, Ngatoro quietened the
storm. The wind dropped, waves and whirl-
pool fell away, the canoes went on their quiet
course. The thankful people, remembering their
lesson, quarrelled no more throughout the voyage.
After many weeks they saw a long white cloud
that seemed to hang across the meeting-place of
sea and sky. All day they drew nearer to it.
Next day they saw it plainly — the new land.
At the welcome sight weary eyes brightened with
relief. "Ao-tea-roa," the voyagers called it —
" Land-of-the-Long- White-Cloud.' '
20 Maoriland Fairy Tales
As they drew near the fairness of the land
came into view. Mountains reared their snow-
wreathed heads above the cloud ; from them
green forests ran down to the sea. Here and
there the gleam of mountain torrents showed
between the green, or clusters of crimson flowers
glowed beneath the sun. The people cast off
their red necklaces and ornaments. " In this
new land we can pluck gems from the trees/'
they said, gazing at the crimson rata flowers.
They sprang on shore. With joy they foui-d
that this new land was rich in food and water.
They settled, built houses, and planted the sweet
potatoes they had brought with them. They
fished, speared birds, and hunted the moa.
Ngatoro the magician said : " I go to travel
through the new country, enriching it and making
it safe for my people." He went. At his magic
word hills were levelled, marshes were dried and
made firm for walking. Stamping on the ground,
he brought forth springs of water wherever they
were needed. He travelled through the forests,
placing guardian fairies everywhere.
He said : "I go to climb yonder mountain.
The Wanderers 21
Fast till my return, that my magic power may
be sustained/ ' He climbed and climbed. When
he was hidden from their sight among the clouds,
the people forgot his words and ate. At once his
magic power left him. Crawling painfully where
he should be striding lightly, he reached at last
the top, only to sink exhausted in the snow.
He was freezing in the bitter cold, yet he had
no strength to help himself. " I perish," he
said, unless the Fire-god send me help."
He called, and the Fire-god sent help; from
the mountain-top fire spouted, flowing over one
side. Ngatoro, warming himself, gathered strength
to finish his work and descend to his people.
When they heard how their carelessness had
nearly cost their beloved magician his life,
the people were sorry. They promised nevei
again to forget his words. " The fire on the
mountain will remind you," he said.
The fire still burns, sometimes far down, some-
times at the top. Men call that mountain a
volcano.
The voyagers stayed on in their new land. When
the last of them had gone to his long rest there
B
22 Maoriland Fairy Tales
were thousands of their children left. These
lived and loved and died, as men and women
have always done, and their children took their
places.
So five hundred years have passed. The new
land has become old, and the story of the great
voyage a tale of long ago. But still, in the Land-
of-the-Long- White-Cloud, as in the sunny islands
of the tropics, the ancient stories of the unfor-
gotten Motherland are told, blended with new
happenings in the newer lands.
They are the old traditions of the race ; myster-
ies of moon and star and the making of the
world, of fire and life and death, and of the making
of man. Among them too are brave deeds of
ancient heroes, and the doings of princes and
magicians and the fairy folk that lived in every
forest.
Listen, little white children of to-day, while
I tell you these stories that have for centuries
been told to the little brown children in these far
islands of the South.
THE SIX BROTHERS
In the beginning, so the ancient stories say
the land was dark. No light ever shone upon
its surface, for Rangi, Master-of-the-Sky, hung
low over Papa, the earth. In Papa's garden,
which was the land, no flowers grew, nor trees ;
nothing but strange half-grown plants whose
leaves were flattened as they pressed against
great Rangi's arms.
For the sake of being together, Sky-father and
Earth-mother forgot to care for the growth of
flowers and trees, and even for the lives of their
own children.
In the low dark garden lived six sons, knowing
nothing of the light, but wondering much what
lay outside, and longing, as they grew, to stretch
themselves and stand upright.
23
24 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Once Rangi lifted up his arms, and for a radiant
moment the light streamed in.
Oh, what is that ? " the brothers asked.
It is nothing but the light," said Rangi. He
dropped his arms again and darkness fell.
" But it was beautiful ! " cried Tan6, the eldest
of the brothers. " Lift your arms again, Rangi.
Let us look at this wonderful thing you call light."
" No, no," cried Rangi ; " be contented as you
are."
But the brothers were no longer contented.
They began to make plans for letting in the light.
" Our home would grow beautiful," said Tane ;
" and besides, we could see to move about."
" If Rangi would but move and give us room
we could stand upright," said Tu, the next in
age.
" Let us ask him ! " said the rest. They
begged Rangi to give them light and room, but
he would not move. " No," he said, " I am
happy here. My place is near the Earth-mother."
Many times they asked, but each time he re-
fused.
The brothers grew angry. " Kill him," said
The Six Brothers 25
Tu, who was the fiercest. " Push him up," said
Tane. " Leave him alone," said Tawhiri.
For a long time they argued. At last they
decided that each brother should try to push him
up out of the way.
" I will try first," said Rongo. He pushed
with all his strength, but he could not move the
great Rangi. Haumia tried, and Tangaroa, and
Tu, but none of them could move him.
Now Tane put forth all his strength. Pushing
with both hands against Rangi' s mighty chest,
he raised him slightly from his resting-place.
" Ah, the Light ! the Light ! " cried the brothers.
" Push, Tane, push harder yet."
Tane pushed, using his feet for greater strength.
The light streamed in. Higher and higher rose
the helpless Sky-giant.
The Earth-mother wept aloud as Rangi was
torn from her. Tane, resting a moment from his
labours, heard an answering cry from above.
" Cruel Tane ! You have left me on the mountain
peaks. They are tearing my sides."
i Tane looked up. He had become a giant,
had pushed Rangi to the mountain tops, and in
26 Maoriland Fairy Tales
his breathing space had left him there to rest
upon their jagged peaks.
Quick as thought, he ran across the land and
up the mountain sides. Lifting Rangi off, he
bound up his wounds ; for Tane* was not really
cruel. He was determined, however. When he
returned to his brothers he said : "I shall send
him so high that he can never come down again/ '
He stood on his head and hands. Bending
his right knee, he kicked Rangi so far into the
heavens that he has had to stay there ever since.
" Now let us make the garden beautiful/ ' said
Tane.
Tawhiri said, " I shall not help you. I shall
go to Rangi." For Tawhiri was always jealous
of his brothers. He went to Rangi, and lived
with him in the sky. The others stayed with the
Earth-mother, making her garden beautiful.
Tane" said, " I will make trees." He made
trees and bushes, flowers and moths and butter-
flies, and sweet singing birds. The sunshine fell
warmly on the garden, and everything grew.
Tane was well pleased.
Rongo made all the food-plants that grow in
The Six Brothers 27
gardens ; Haumia made wild food-plants ; Tan-
garoa filled the rivers and lakes and sea with
fishes.
" Earth-mother/ ' said Tane, " weep no more
for Rangi. Be happy in your garden."
" I am pleased with your love for me, and all
your kindness to me," said the Earth-mother,
" but I cannot cease weeping for Rangi. I think
always how cold he must be in the sky, for he
is not warmly clad."
" I will clothe him better," said Tane. He
made a warm wide cloak of glowing red for Rangi.
"I will fasten it with stars," he said. " They are
the most beautiful things I have ever seen."
He went to the Star-goblin. " Give me stars
for Rangi's cloak," he begged.
The Star-goblin said, " They lie on a mountain
at the end of the sky. You must take a long and
dangerous journey to reach them."
" I will go," said Tane.
It was indeed a long and dangerous journey, but
Tan6 was not afraid. He strode gaily over the
mountain tops and through the wild dark lands
of night, coming at last to the mountain at the
28 Maoriland Fairy Tales
end of the sky. Here he found the gleaming
stars piled above the precipices. He gathered a
number of the largest and brightest, and took
them back with him.
He stood on the mountain peaks and set the
stars in the cloak. But he found that in the
sunshine they did not show. So he made a dark
cloak for night-time, and placed them in that.
There they shone brilliantly.
The Earth-mother smiled, well pleased. Still,
she was not quite happy about Rangi. She said,
" I am afraid lest he should fall from that great
height and be hurt."
" I can prevent that," said Tane. He made
soft cloud pillars. With these he propped up
Rangi that he should not fall.
So in his kindly way Tane did what he could
for Rangi and the Earth-mother. But these two
have never recovered from the sorrow of their
parting. Often in the night Rangi's tears fall
upon the Earth-mother's garden ; men, seeing
these tears, call them dew. He looks fondly
down upon her from the sun and moon, which are
his eyes ; she sends up soft sighs of mist to tell
The Six Brothers 29
him of her never-dying love. Yet they are not
quite separated, for their hands, outstretched,
touch each other on the low horizon.
The brothers were at last happy. Only Tawhiri,
still jealous, would not be at peace. He made the
winds, setting them at opposite corners of his
sky-home. One day he called them, together with
all the storms and hurricanes, all the rain, hail,
and black clouds of the sky. Sweeping down
through the air with these terrible helpers, he
fell upon Tane's beautiful trees, beating them to
the ground.
Tane was too late to save his trees, but he
called to his brothers to warn them that Tawhiri
had come. Rongo and Haumia, in their fear,
changed themselves into roots and hid in the
garden. Tangaroa changed himself into a fish and
jumped into the sea. These brothers have lived
in those places ever since.
But Tu stood on high land, where Tawhiri' s
floods could not reach him. There he waited
for his jealous brother. When Tawhiri came, he
fought him and beat him, and made him promise
to stay quietly in his sky-home, leaving his
30 Maoriland Fairy Tales
brothers in peace. Tawhiri still sometimes sends
his winds to tease his brothers, but he is too
much afraid of Tu to work any serious mischief.
Tan6 re-planted his trees, and they grew into
mighty forests. The garden grows more beautiful
every day, for never again can the light be shut
out.
TIKI
Tane gazed on red clay that lay exposed where
earth had fallen from a cliff. " Red, the sacred
colour ! " he said ; " and earth, from which all
things grow and flourish. Surely from this I can
make something greater than anything I have yet
attempted.' '
He gathered the red clay and worked it with
his hands, kneading it and fashioning it into a
shape like his own. When the shape was made he
breathed into it his own breath. Slowly life
went into the figure, and it began to breathe as
if in sleep.
Tan6 stood, chanting a life-giving song. The
limbs received their powers, the eyes opened and
saw the world. The shape arose and walked. It
was Tiki, the first man, whose heart and all
81
32 Maoriland Fairy Tales
inner parts were red as the clay from which he
was made.
Tane, invisible, watched the man walk with
dazed and wondering eyes across the barren plain
where he had lain towards the forest trees where
birds were singing. Invisible goddesses floated
through the air to look at this new creature. " He
will need a mate," they said.
From the Sunshine that quivered on the trees
and the Echo that wandered through them, the
goddesses wove a fine mist, which limb by limb
they shaped into a woman. They sent her out
to meet the man, and he was lonely no more.
The two lived together in the Earth-mother's garden,
and from them have all the men and women
come that live there to this day.
Tan6 went to live in the shining Sunrise Land,
beside the Lake of Glowing Light. So Tu was
left master of the garden, for he alone of the six
giant-brothers was left. Ever since, the men
and women who live there have received good
things from four of the brothers — from Tane's
trees wood for boats and houses, fibrous leaves
for ropes and clothing ; from Rongo and Haumia
Tiki 33
roots and berries ; from Tangaroa fish. But from
Tu they received an evil gift, for he taught them
the art of fighting. Yet, strange to say, they
worshipped him more than any of the brothers.
They made him their god of war ; and since then
peace has left the earth.
TAWHAKI'S CLIMB
Tawhaki, the Prince, was so brave and hand-
some, and did so many noble deeds, that his
fame went abroad throughout the land. At
last even the Sky-fairies heard of him. One of
them said, " I wonder whether this Earth-prince
is as brave and handsome as they say he is. I
will go down to the earth to see.,,
One summer morning she descended to the
earth. Herself unseen, she watched Tawhaki,
finding him even braver and more handsome
than any one had told her. Indeed, she was so
pleased with him that she came out of her hiding-
place and made herself known to him.
Each day she came down to talk to him. He
was glad and proud, for no Earth-princess was
half so beautiful ; besides, was she not a Sky-
fairy ? At last these two became so fond of one
35
36 Maoriland Fairy Tales
another that they were married. The Sky-fairy
left her home above the clouds, and lived on the
earth as Tawhaki's wife.
Such a thing had never happened before.
When the other Sky-fairies heard of it they were
exceedingly angry. " She belongs to us," they
said. " She must come back."
But she refused to come. " I love Tawhaki,"
she said. " I will not leave him."
They made up their minds to carry her off.
One day they swooped down upon the island
and carried her away before Tawhaki's very
eyes.
She struggled with all her strength to free
herself, while Tawhaki tried to hold her back and
beat the Sky-fairies off. But the Sky-fairies
were too powerful. They pushed Tawhaki aside
and carried his wife away. " Sky-fairies must
not live on the earth," they said. " You shall
never return to Tawhaki."
" Come to me, then, Tawhaki ! Come to me
in the sky ! " she called, her voice growing fainter
as she was borne out of his hearing.
Tawhaki stretched up despairing arms. What
Tawhaki's Climb 37
could he do ? He had no means of following
her. And yet, the loneliness without her !
For many sad and weary days he wandered
hopelessly about, unable to find away of reaching
her. He asked the eagles to carry him, but
they replied that they could never reach the sky.
He climbed mountain after mountain, but none
was high enough.
One morning, passing through the mountain-
land, he came upon an old woman, sitting alone.
An old, old woman she was. In her hand she held
a fine white spider-thread.
Who are you ? " asked Tawhaki.
I am called the Old Grandmother/' she replied.
What are you doing in this lonely place ? "
Holding this thread.' '
Tawhaki's eye followed the thread up. " Where
is the other end ? " he asked.
In the sky.''
What is it for ? " asked Tawhaki eagerly.
The old woman eyed him steadily. " If a man
on the earth wished to go to Sky-land he might
climb this thread," she said. " It would bear
him, but he must be very brave, for if he once
a
CI
cc
a
a
38 Maoriland Fairy Tales
looked back or lost heart he would fall and be
dashed to pieces. I do not think any Earth-
man is brave enough to attempt the deed."
" Try me. I will go ! " cried Tawhaki, his
heart beating with joy. He guessed that this
thread had been sent down by his wife that he
might go to her.
" Give me the thread," he said.
The Old Grandmother was pleased at his
courage, but she warned him of his danger. " It
is such a tiny, slender thread," she said. " One
slip, one moment's loss of courage, would dash
you on these mountain-tops."
" I shall not be afraid," said Tawhaki. " My
heart is too full of love to have room for fear."
" Listen then," she said. " I will teach you
a charm. Sing it if ever your strength seems
to be leaving you. By it, too, you can change
yourself as you will."
She sang the charm, and he repeated it until 4
he knew it.
" Now you may go," she said. " Keep a
brave heart, remember to never look back, and,
if your strength fails, sing the charm."
Tawhaki's Climb 39
Grasping the spider-thread, Tawhaki sprang from
the earth, and began his wonderful climb to
Sky-land.
What a frail thread it was ! It swayed and
swung with his weight, but he had faith in its
magic power to hold him. He clung and climbed,
higher and ever higher, until he was level with
the tops of the lower hills.
Up still, and higher yet. Now he was level
with the highest mountains. Now he was above
them. He was passing through Cloud-land.
What if the thread should break or come loose ?
He would not think of such accidents. His wife
was at the top.
It was cold, cold and wet in Cloud-land, and
he had been climbing for hours. His strength
began to ebb. Then he remembered the charm,
and sang it with all his might as he passed through
the great lonely spaces beneath Sky-land. Over
and over again he sang it, till weariness fled and
strength returned.
Climbing now quickly and joyfully, he came
to the first of the ten Sky-lands. He pushed
himself through the flooring, and it cracked in
40 Maoriland Fairy Tales
all directions. A deluge of water rushed through
the hole. He sprang up and looked round. The
water was overflowing from the edge of a lake
in which Sky-fairies were bathing.
" That water will make a flood on the earth,"
he thought ; but he did not stay to look back,
nor even to watch the Sky-fairies. He knew his
wife's home was not here, but on the fourth
Sky-land. He grasped the thread again, and
went on his way.
When he reached the second Sky-land he met
a snake-shaped fish. Behind this fish crawled
hundreds of smaller ones.
" Who are you ? " Tawhaki asked boldly.
" I am the Eel-king," replied the fish. " I am
looking for water. Up here we are parched and
dry. How is it in the earth ? "
" Uncomfortably wet, I should say, for I
have cracked the lowest Sky-land and let the
water through from the fairies' lake," said Tawhaki.
" Good ! " said the Eel-king. " The earth is
the very place for us. Come, my children, to
this delightful earth."
With his wriggling people he slid down through
Tawhaki's Climb 41
the hole to the earth, and here he has stayed ever
since. Before that there were no eels in the
creeks and rivers of the world.
On the third Sky-land Tawhaki met the
Pukaki. The bird stretched its long neck in
astonishment at the sight of an earth-man.
" Where are you going ? " he asked.
" To the fourth Sky-land," replied Tawhaki.
" What is the earth like just now ? " was the
bird's next question.
" Very wet. Flooded, in fact," said Tawhaki.
" You don't say so ! " cried the bird joyfully.
" Why, that is the kind of world I want. Here
there is no swamp. I shall go down to the earth.
Tell me, do the fairies know you are on your way
to their land ? "
" No," said Tawhaki. " I do not wish them to
know that."
"Oh, indeed ! Then I shall give them warn-
ing."
The mischievous bird raised his head to give a
cry that should reach the fourth Sky-land. Just
in time Tawhaki caught him by the nose, pinching
it so hard that the Pukaki could make no sound.
42 Maoriland Fairy Tales
He pulled, and struggled to break loose, but Taw-
haki held on.
Tawhaki said, " Will you promise to keep quiet
if I let you go ? "
A subdued droop of the bird's tail seemed to
answer " yes," so Tawhaki loosed his hold.
The Pukaki fled down through the hole to the
earth. Ever since that day his nose has been
red from Tawhaki' s pinching, and all his children
and children's children have been hatched with
crimson noses.
Tawhaki climbed the fourth Sky-land. Here the
thread ended. He looked about him. This Sky-
land was beautiful, clothed in green forests and
decked with bright flowers. Through the trees
he saw the gleam of water. Listening, he heard
the sound of voices.
He crept quietly towards the voices. Near the
lake the fairies who had carried off his wife were
making a canoe.
" If I follow these fairies I shall find my wife,"
thought Tawhaki ; " but they must not know me,
or they will send me down to earth again. I will
change my form."
Tawhaki's Climb 43
He stole back into the forest, and softly sang
his charm. By the time it was finished he had
the appearance of a poor, miserable old man. No
one would have recognized in him the handsome
Tawhaki.
He walked slowly towards the fairies. " Look
at that old man," said one. " Where has he
come from ? "
11 Make him work," said another. " He shall
carry our axes home."
They loaded Tawhaki with axes, and he followed
them towards their home. " What would my
people say if they could see their Prince carry-
ing tools like a slave ? " he thought. " But it is for
my wife's sake. For her I will suffer anything."
An idea came to him. He called to the fairies,
•' Do not wait for me. I am old, and cannot
walk fast. I will follow you slowly."
The fairies went on. As soon as they were
out of sight Tawhaki changed himself to his old
strength of limb. Running back to the canoe,
he worked at it until one side was finished. " My
work is better than theirs," he said. " They
may be glad to learn from me."
44 Maoriland Fairy Tales
He ran through the forest till he almost reached
the fairies, then he returned to the form of the old
man carrying the axes.
At the fairies' home he saw his wife. She sat
sadly by herself, taking no interest in anything.
She glanced at the old man following the
fairies, but did not recognize him as Tawhaki.
He dared not make himself known. " I must
first finish the canoe," he thought.
Early the next morning the fairies again set
off for the forest, Tawhaki carrying the tools.
When they reached the canoe the fairies stood
lost in astonishment. " Who has been working
at our canoe ? It is half done. And so well
done ! Who can it be ? "
Nobody knew, and of course nobody suspected the
feeble old man. After talking a great deal
about it, and coming to no solution of the mystery,
they set to work, chopping and adzing all through
the day.
When the evening came Tawhaki did exactly
as he had done the night before. The next
morning the other side of their canoe was finished.
" To-night we will watch," they said.
The Sky-Fairies surprise Tawhaki
Maoriland Fairy Tales]
45
Tawhaki's Climb 47
This was just what Tawhaki wished. When the
evening came he changed himself into the strong
and handsome Tawhaki, knowing that the fairies
were waiting in the forest to surprise him.
They came rushing out from behind the trees.
" We have found you at last, kind worker/'
they shouted.
He turned his face to them, and they saw that
he was Tawhaki !
Without a word he set off at a run for his wife's
home. The angry, puzzled fairies followed him.
Some said : "He shall not stay. Send him back
to earth." Others said : " Let him stay. He
can teach us the building of canoes. We can
make a Sky-fairy of him, and his wife will then
be happy."
They reached the house. Tawhaki ran in and
stood before his wife. She knew him now, and
sprang to meet him. They held each other's
hands, and showed their joy so plainly that the
fairies could not bear to part them. " He shall
stay," they agreed.
They gave him fairy power, so that he can
never die. To-day he lives in happiness with
48 Maoriland Fairy Tales
his fairy wife. So powerful has he grown in
magic that men, hearing his footsteps on the
floor of Sky-land, call them thunder ; and
when he lifts his arms lightning flashes from his
armpits.
HOW THE MOON WAS MADE
Long, long ago, before there was a moon in the
sky, there lived two beautiful maidens who loved
each other dearly. One was called by a name
that meant Shining-Eyes, and the other by a
name that meant Rippling-Hair.
Shining-Eyes had heard a great deal about
the Fire-that-never-goes-out. She often talked
to Rippling-Hair about it. " It is kept in one
of the underworlds," she said. " Fierce spirits
guard it day and night. If we could bring it
away we should obtain the Life-that-never-dies.
Think of it. Unending Life ! What a gift that
would be to the world ! " One day she said,
11 Will you come with me to look for it ? "
" The journey is too dangerous/' cried Rippling-
Hair. " Besides, there are those terrible spirits I
We should never return alive."
49
50 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Wait ! I have a plan," said Shining-Eyes.
We might take a basket of kumaras to the
spirits. While they eat the sweet earth-fruits we
can snatch away a fire-stick and run off with it."
" But they would catch us."
" I think not. We are both swift runners, and
we should have a good start."
" Our fathers may not let us go."
" We need not say where we are going, nor
mention the dangers of the journey. It will be
enough to say that we wish to take a little trip
together.
Rippling-Hair still looked doubtful, but Shining-
Eyes took her hands and looked into her eyes.
" I am going, dear friend," she said. " I have
thought of it night and day until I must go. I
cannot give it up. But you — do not come if
your heart fails you. I do not wish to lead you
into danger."
" Where you go I shall go — you know that ! "
cried Rippling-Hair.
" Then come with me to find the Fire-that-
never-goes-out," laughed Shining-Eyes, " for that
is where I am going."
How the Moon was Made 51
" I will come/' said Rippling-Hair, though
she trembled at the thought. Afterwards, when
the real dangers came, she forgot her fears and
went through everything as bravely as Shining-
Eyes herself.
They obtained the consent of their parents
to leave home, made all their arrangements as if
for a short visit to a neighbouring village, and
started off, taking with them food for themselves
on the way and a basket of kumaras for the
spirits.
At first the track was pleasant enough. It
led over a sunny plain and past a gently-flowing
river. But when they came to the dark bush-
lands their troubles began. Every tree and
bramble, every bird and insect in the bush, knew
why Shining-Eyes and Rippling-Hair were trav-
elling north, and they all tried to turn them back
from the death they risked.
The tall trees interlocked their boughs to shut
out the sun and make the pathway dark. " You
will lose your way. Turn back before it is too
late," they sighed. And many times the two
girls lost their way.
52 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Turn back before it is too late," said the
brambles, the thorny wait-a-bits. They caught the
friends, holding them with their curved claws,
and tearing their hands and faces till they bled.
" Turn back before it is too late," piped the
birds and insects. They stole what food they
could when the maidens were not watching, so
that hunger should drive them back to safety.
But Shining-Eyes and Rippling-Hair would not
be turned back. Although after many days their
sufferings had weakened them so sorely that
they fell at the foot of a great tree-fern and could
not rise, they did not lose heart. All their food
was gone except the basket of kumaras for the
spirits, they were footsore, and numb with weari-
ness, but they said: "We shall sleep and wake
up strengthened. We must not, will not give
in."
From among the fronds of the tree-fern peeped
the kindly faces of watching forest fairies. They
heard the brave words, and saw the worn-out
girls drop off to sleep. " Let us help them," said
one. " The bush has done its best to stop them,
but they will not be stopped. Perhaps their
How the Moon was Made 53
courage will carry them safely to their journey's
end."
They trooped down from the tree-fern, carried
the sleepers to the fairy palace, and laid them on
beds of softest down to dream the night away.
In the morning they brought magic foods and
drinks that took away all pain and weariness.
The two girls, strong and well once more, went
on their way with grateful, happy hearts. Leaving
the bush behind, they came into the mountain-
land.
The mountains put forth all their terrors to
turn them back from death. Little hills raised
themselves into mountains to tire their feet,
mountains stretched themselves almost to the
sky. The girls went on as if nothing had hap-
pened ; the hills and mountains, seeing this, fell
back again to their old size, and the girls climbed
over them with ease.
Sometimes great rocks sprang suddenly into their
path ; deep clefts opened before their feet ; mountain
storms roared about their heads ; once a moun-
tain giant chased them. But they neither faltered
nor turned back, and at last the mountains said,
54 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Leave them alone. Their courage will carry
them safely through to their purpose."
They came at last to the end of the land. Below
them lay the sea, above them towered a beautiful
tree with crimson flowers. They stood on the
edge of the cliff and looked at the twisted roots
that led from the tree down the face of the rock
to the beach below.
" The tree is called Spray-Sprinkled," said
Shining-Eyes. " Between its lowest roots lies
the opening to the underworld. To that higher
point above us come each night the souls of those
who have died during the day. There they
pause once to sigh, then fling themselves below
to enter that dark underworld. If we can save
our friends from death and this sad end, our
sufferings on the way have been worth while."
Through the night they rested. When the
morning broke they descended by the roots and
found the opening to the underworld.
A narrow passage, dark as night, led into the
earth. Trembling, they entered in, groping their
slow way with beating hearts.
After a long time a gleam of light shone out in
How the Moon was Made 55
front. They walked faster. Coming to the end
of the passage, they peeped out. Before them
lay a wide open plain, lit by a fire made of three
sticks crossed. In front of the fire sat three fierce
old spirits.
" The Fire-that-never-goes-out ! " whispered
Shining-Eyes. " Give me the kumaras.,,
Silently as they could the girls approached
the fire. But the spirits heard their steps. " Mor-
tals ! " they shrieked, starting up in anger.
Shining-Eyes held out the basket of kumaras.
" See," she said, " we have brought you these
earth-fruits. You have none so sweet down
here."
Astonished at her boldness, the spirits took the
kumaras and crowded round to taste them.
Stooping, Shining-Eyes snatched a fire-stick from
the ground and flew with Rippling-Hair towards
the entrance to the passage.
They had almost reached the entrance when
screams of rage behind them told them that their
trick was discovered. " Quick, oh, quick ! "
breathed Shining-Eyes.
Up the long passage, now lit by the flaming
D
5fl Maoriland Fairy Tales
stick, they fled with desperate swiftness. Be-
hind them came the spirits, gaining on them with
every step. " If only we can keep the lead till
we reach the opening,' ' panted Rippling-Hair in
front. " Ah, here it is. We are saved ! "
She sprang through the opening, turned, and
grasped her friend's hand to pull her through.
But at that moment one of the spirits reached
Shining-Eyes and seized her heel.
" I am held," gasped Shining-Eyes.
She struggled wildly, while Rippling-Hair pulled
with all her strength. They could not free her
heel.
" Drop the fire-stick and give me both hands/"
Rippling-Hair whispered. " Drop it, or you will
be pulled back, and that means death."
" I will not lose it. It is unending life ! "
cried Shining-Eyes. With one tremendous effort
she hurled it far into the sky.
Seizing the freed hand, Rippling-Hair jerked
her friend out of the spirit's grasp on to the sandy
beach above the opening.
The spirits dared not come above the ground.
They fled back through the passage, scream-
How the Moon was Made 57
ing with rage at the loss of their cherished
stick.
The girls lay panting on the beach, their eyes
directed to the flaming stick. From where Shin-
ing-Eyes had flung it, it whirled higher and yet
higher, faster and faster, until it whirled itself
into a ball. Rangi looked down and saw it
coming. He put out his hand and caught it, and
fitted it into a niche in the sky.
Calling the North Wind, he gave him a message
for the girls.
" Tell them," he said, " that unending life is
not for the people of the earth. But tell them
also that their brave deed is not lost, for the Fire-
that-never-goes-out shall stay in the sky to give
light when the sun is away. Through it I can
look down upon the Earth-mother at night ; by
its light men shall see to walk when otherwise
it would be dark. Let the maidens return to
their homes, knowing that for ever men will bless
them for the good deed they have done." ?
The girls listened to the message and were com-
forted for the loss of the stick. They retraced
their steps, arriving home in safety to relate
58 Maoriland Fairy Tales
their doings to their friends. The people were
astonished, but they saw the new great light in
the sky, so they believed the girls and loved them
for their noble courage.
And the great light still shines on in the sky.
Men call it the Moon.
BROTHER AND SISTER
Rupe and Hina were brother and sister, but they
loved each other with a love greater than that
of most brothers and sisters. So close was the
bond between them that they were scarcely happy
except when together.
One day Hina fell into the sea and was
carried out by the tide. Fortunately she wore
a magic girdle. This protected her from death,
but she went floating out over the horizon, miles
away from her home and parents and beloved
brother.
Nobody had seen her fall. When she was
missed there was a grief-stricken search. No
trace of her could be found.
" She must be dead," her friends whispered.
Rup6 overheard them. " She is not dead ! "
59
60 Maoriland Fairy Tales
he cried. " Something in my heart tells me she
is not dead. I go to find her."
He set off, travelling from one end of the land
to the other, seeking her. For months, for over
a year, he sought her fruitlessly.
In the meantime she was floating, drifting
through the sea, upborne by the waves, saved by
the magic girdle from every death that threatened
her. In her slow progress little seaweed tendrils
clasped themselves about her, pink-tipped bar-
nacles attached themselves to her.
For many months she floated on, till at last
she was thrown up by the surf on the sandy
beach of a little island. There she lay, helpless
and unconscious from her long voyage in the
water.
The people of the island found her, took her
in, gently scraped off the sea-things that still
clung to her, and showed her every kindness.
After a while the king heard of her, and was so
charmed with her sweetness and beauty that he
took her to live in his royal home. So a year
passed by.
Just at this time Rupe gave up seeking for
Brother and Sister 61
her on the land. " I will go to Rehua," he
said.
Repeating a powerful spell, he changed
himself into a pigeon. He had a long, weary
flight before him to the highest Sky-land, for
this was where Rehua lived. Rehua was the
greatest of all Sky-fairies. He knew everything ;
he would surely know where Hina was.
Soaring bravely, Rupe mounted higher and
higher, his love for his sister upholding his tiring
wings. Up he went, through the great sun-filled
spaces, till he reached the first Sky-land. From
that to the second, the third, the fourth, on to
the tenth. At last he stood before Rehua !
" Murmurs concerning you have risen to me
from a little island in the sea," was Rehua's
answer to the question Rupe put to him. He
pointed out the island in the world that lay so
far below.
Back to the earth, straight as a stone in his
course for the little island, Rupe took his down-
ward flight. Alighting at Hina's dwelling-place,
he flew to her window-sill. There he waited to
be seen by her.
fo Maoriland Fairy Tales
Some of the king's servants saw him. " See !
A pigeon on the sill," they said. One brought
a spear and tried to spear him, but Rupe turned
the spear aside with his bill, so that it broke on
the wood of the window-sill. Another brought
a noose and tried to snare him, but each time he
turned his head aside and the noose fell away.
" Magic ! " cried the servants. " A magic bird I
We cannot harm him."
They told Hina of the magic visitor. " Leave
the bird alone while I look at it," she
said.
Long and earnestly she looked. " It
is my brother ! " she cried at last. "It is
Rupe."
Taking again his natural shape, Rupe embraced
his long-lost sister, telling her the story of his
weary search for her. In return, she told him
of her strange voyage and her life on this far
island, where king and people were all kindness
to her.
" Come with me to the tenth Sky-land, where
Rehua lives," said Rupe. " There is brightness
such as never glows on this low earth. There is
Brother and Sister 63
beauty, there is joy. There we may live together
all our lives.' '
" I will come," said Hina. By spells Rup6
changed their shapes to those of pigeons. To-
gether they flew through the upper sunlit spaces
till they reached the tenth Sky-land. There,
with Rehua, they spent together their happy
days.
THE SEA-KING'S VICTORY
The Sea-king in his palace under the water heard
the sound of bitter weeping on the shore. " Some-
body is in trouble/' he said. " I must see what is
the matter." He changed himself into a fish and
swam to the shore to look. A woman walked
along the beach, wailing loudly.
" Why do you weep ? " asked the Sea-king.
The woman stopped, looked into the water and
saw the fish, and guessed that he must be the
king.
" I weep because I have lost my husband,"
she replied. " We quarrelled, and he left me.
He lives now in the next village. Why we quar-
relled I hardly know, for indeed we love one
another. I have been to the village to beg him
to come back to me. He would have come, but
65
66 Maoriland Fairy Tales
his friends laughed at him for yielding, so I
return alone and sorrowful." She told her tale
with such heartbroken sobs that the Sea-king's
pity rose on her behalf.
" I will send a message to the village ; may-
be your husband will soon return to you," he
said. " Go quietly home and await events."
The wife went home, not much comforted.
She was doubtful of the Sea-king's power on
land.
The Sea-king himself had no doubts. He
called a sea-gull. " Go to the village near by,"
he said, " and tell the people to restore the
husband to the wife. Say that I, the Sea-king,
command it."
The sea-gull flew with the message. " Restore
the husband to the wife," she called from the
wall surrounding the pah. " It is the great
Sea-king who sends the word."
" The Sea-king ! Who obeys him ? " laughed
the villagers. " Go back. Tell your Sea-king
that the husband stays with us as long as we
desire it."
The gull returned with the insulting message.
The Sea-Kinsr is angry
Miioi ilmiti Fiii iv Tiihis,
The Sea-King's Victory 69
The Sea-king was pale with anger. " They dare
to laugh at me and doubt my power ! " he cried.
" They shall pay for this. I will teach them to
obey."
From his palace he sent a summons to all
fighting fish, big and little, to come to his aid.
They crowded round his palace in their smooth
grey coats, which in those days were one and
all alike.
" Soldier-fish ! " said the king, " your help
is needed. Sharpen your teeth and polish your
skins this night, for in the morning we go to
battle with men. On land my power has been
insulted."
The fish spent the night in polishing their
already shining skins and sharpening their teeth
and the spines of their fins and tails. In the
morning they swam in ranks before the palace
doors, ready for the fight.
The Sea-king swam out, changed to the likeness
of the biggest fish of all. Placing himself at
their head, he led them to the battle. Below the
sea they swam in their hundreds of thousands,
rising to the surface as they neared the shore.
1
70 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Scrambling up the beach, they marched across
the country to the pah.'
The people of the pah, seeing them coming,
ran out to watch this strange army — fish march-
ing on dry land.
" What a joke," they said. " Whoever saw
its like before ? "
One man, wiser than his fellows, shouted, "It
is the Sea-king's army. This is no joke, but
grim war. Remember, we laughed at the Sea-
king's power. To your houses for your spears
and axes ! "
Some one cried, " But fish cannot fight with
men."
" We must destroy this army or it will destroy
us," replied the first.
The men ran to their houses, caught up their
spears and axes, and came out to fight the fish.
Now began the strangest battle ever seen.
Over the wall of the pah slid the great fish army,
rank on rank, column after column, until the
ground between the houses was covered with
their moving bodies. The men speared and
hacked and cut at the fish, while the fish fought
The Sea-King's Victory 71
fiercely with sharp teeth and spiked fins and
flapping tails, or threw the men by wriggling
with polished skins beneath their feet.
The battle raged all day. The men fought for
supremacy, but the numbers and the courage of
the fish wore them out. When evening came,
on all sides men lay wounded and beaten ; the
fish army had won.
The Sea-king stood high in his kingly shape
again, looking down on the beaten men.
" You will send back the husband to the wife/'
he commanded.
" Yes," they answered.
" You will never again laugh at my power on
land ? "
" No."
" That is well. Bid the husband stand before me."
The husband came. " Back to your wife !
Quarrel no more. Treat her kindly and be happy,"
said the King.
Without a word the husband turned and went
home to his wife, to live with her happily ever
after.
The Sea-king led his victorious army back to
72 Maoriland Fairy Tales
his sea-palace. " You have done nobly," he said.
" Ask me what boon you will, and if it is mine
to give you shall have it."
One by one the fish swam up and stated each
his heart's desire. One by one their requests
were granted. Most of them had seen strange
sights upon the land, colours and forms such as
were never seen below the sea. From these they
chose their gifts. A Cod had gazed upon the
gorgeous colours of the sunset, and asked for
these upon its back. Another preferred to wear
the soft blue of the summer sky. One had seen
a boy's kite, and wished to resemble it in shape ;
that is why to-day the Skate is broad and flat.
One wished to be red like blood, and to be able
to groan like a wounded man ; and so you may
always hear the Gurnet groan when it is caught.
One asked that a spear might be fixed at the end
of his nose ; to this day he carries it there, and
men call him the Guard-fish.
So, in turn, every soldier won what he most
desired. This is how the fish obtained their
varying shapes and colours. These are their
rewards for bravery.
THE MAGICIAN'S MAGIC
Ruarangi's wife was so beautiful that the Fairy
King fell in love with her and carried her off to
his fairy city. There he said a charm that caused
her to forget her former life, her husband and
her home.
When Ruarangi came home at night to find
his house empty, his beloved wife gone, his grief
was terrible. After a fruitless search he went
to a Magician.
" Find out where my wife is," he begged.
" What will you give me for my services ? M
asked the Magician.
" Half my crop of sweet potatoes."
" Good. I will find her."
He made his magic ring and looked through his
magic eyes. " Your wife is in the city of the
Fairy King," he said at last. "The Fairy King
73
74 Maoriland Fairy Tales
has said a charm to make her forget you and
her home. You must go to the fairy city for
her. I will say a spell that will cause her to re-
member everything when you appear."
He said the spell. When he had finished he
said, " Take red ochre with you to rub on your
wife's skin, The fairies will then be powerless
to touch her/'
Ruarangi set off, taking red ochre with him.
After many days of travelling, he reached the
fairy city, a quaint cluster of peaked houses
built on a flat-topped hill. He climbed the hill
and walked through the city, but houses and
streets were empty. Not a fairy was to be
seen.
On the next hill sports were being held. Every-
body from the fairy city had gone to see them.
Ruarangi' s beautiful wife walked on the sports-
ground with the Fairy King, watching with idle
eyes the racing, jumping and throwing of the
fairy people. Suddenly, as Ruarangi' s foot touched
the empty fairy city on the neighbour hill, the
Magician's spell did its work. In a flash her
memory came back.
The Magician's Magic 75
" My husband ! My Ruarangi ! " she thought.
" What magic has bound me ? I must
escape."
Two fairies wrestled on the course. The King
and all his people watched with eager interest.
" I wish to speak to your brothers behind us,M
she said to the King. He nodded permission,
his eyes on the performers.
She turned and walked down-hill, stopping
but a moment to speak to the King's brothers.
Once out of sight, she hurried on, meaning to
escape. Passing through the fairy city, she met
her husband looking for her.
" Ruarangi ! My husband ! Take me home,"
she cried. Ruarangi's heart sang for joy.
He rubbed red ochre on her face and neck, that
no fairy spell should overtake her. Then he
took her home. When they reached their coun-
try, a great feast of welcome was given by their
friends, for joy at their safe return.
On the sports-ground the Fairy King waited
for Ruarangi's wife. When she did not return,
he sent a messenger for her. The messenger
brought word that she had gone on to the city.
76 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" It is well," said the King. " She rests. She
has but mortal strength."
When the sports were over the fairies all went
home, but she was not in the city. No clue was
left but the prints of footsteps down the hill.
The King examined the footprints. " They
are those of Ruarangi and his wife," he cried.
" He has dared to enter my city and take her
from me. He shall be punished. She shall re-
turn. Bring the army together with all speed.
In three days we march on Ruarangi' s city."
For two days the fairy army prepared their
weapons and exercised themselves ; on the third
day they marched for Ruarangi* s home, the Fairy
King at their head.
Through the land the alarm was spread by
swift-footed messengers : " The Fairy King draws
near with his army."
" Prepare for war," Ruarangi commanded.
" There is no need," said the Magician. " There
is a better way."
" Tell us," said Ruarangi.
" What shall I receive for helping you ? "
" The other half of my crop of sweet potatoes."
The Magician's Magic 77
11 Good. Then listen to my words. You can-
not fight the fairies. Their magic power would
render you defenceless. But there are two things
against which they have no power — red ochre and
the steam of cooked food. Smear yourselves, your
fences, and your houses with red ochre ; cook
food and set it steaming on your posts and roofs.
Thus the fairy army will possess no power to
harm you or your homes/ '
The people listened, and obeyed the words of
the Magician. While the men rubbed red ochre
over everything, the women cooked great quanti-
ties of food and set it steaming on the posts and
roofs.
With a loud battle-cry the fairy army drew up
in front of the waiting city. A gust of hot steam
answered them ; the crimson glow of red ochre
flashed on their dismayed eyes. " Magic ! " they
cried in consternation. They turned to fly.
The Fairy King stood forth and called them to
endure it. "I will overpower their magic ! "
he said.
Standing in front of his army, he began to
chant an incantation that should remove the
78 Maoriland Fairy Tales
paint and food. His fairies, listening, took cour-
age to endure the horrid glow and stifling steam.
But the Magician, hearing the King's words, sprang
to the gateway of the city and chanted a spell
to make the paint and food remain.
More and more loudly they sang, each trying
to out-chant the other. Meanwhile, the paint
and food did not move, a sign that the Magician's
power was stronger than the King's.
At last the Fairy King realized that he was
beaten. Turning, he gave orders for retreat.
The fairy army marched away, never to return.
Ruarangi and his beautiful wife were saved by
the Magician's magic.
MAUI
When he was a baby Maui was lost on the sea-
shore. But though lost, he was not harmed, for
the sea-creatures took care of him. Little waves
rocked him to and fro, jelly-fish made a soft bed
for him, sea- weeds floated above his limbs to shel-
ter him, beach winds crooned light cradle-songs
to lull him off to sleep.
He slept happily, till hungry sea-birds spied
him. With their cruel eyes and strong hooked
beaks they gathered round him, eager for a feast.
The sea-weeds tossed themselves above him as
protection, but the birds would certainly have
devoured him had not Rangi looked down from
the sky and observed his danger.
He called to the mountains, " Lift that child
from the sea and hand him up to me."
The mountains stooped, lifted Maui from his
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80 Maoriland Fairy Tales
dangerous bed, and held him high as they could
reach. Rangi stretched down his arms, took
the little baby, and lifted him into the sky. The
disappointed sea-birds flew away, and the kindly
jelly-fish and sea- weeds were at liberty once
more to float about on their own important
businesses.
In the Sky-land Maui lived with Rangi till
he was twelve years old. The life was very
different from that which he would have lived
amongst his brothers on the earth. Sky foods
and cloud beds, sky games and sky work, made
a most unusual boy of him. Best of all, Rangi
taught him magic.
Through his magic lessons Maui learned how to
lift with ease a thing a hundred times as big as
himself ; how to stretch a few feet of any substance
so far that the further end became invisible ; how
to make himself invisible ; how to change himself
into any bird or animal he wished. Rangi taught
him also many new ways of making ropes and
fish-hooks, spears and axes — better ways than any
earth-man knew.
Maui looked down on the earth and saw his
<-/•
THE SEA-WEEDS PROTECT MAUI.
81
Maui 83
brothers at play. " May I not go to them ? "
he asked Rangi. " With them is my real home/'
" Go down if you wish," replied Rangi. " I
would not keep you here if you prefer a life on
earth. But promise first to teach your brothers
the useful lessons I have taught you."
Maui gladly promised. He said good-bye to
Rangi and was gently lowered to the beach by
his mother's house.
There his brothers were playing. He joined
in their game, but they all stopped to stare at
the strange boy. " Who are you ? " one of them
asked.
" I am your brother," he answered.
They would not believe him. " We have no
brother," they said. They ran to the house and
told their mother that a strange boy calling him-
self their brother had come to play with them,
She hurried out to question him. " I am your
little boy," he said. " I was lost on the sea-
shore and have lived with Rangi ever since."
His mother believed him and took him into
the house. She kissed him and told his brothers
to be kind to him. So Maui lived at home.
84 Maoriland Fairy Tales
He taught his brothers the useful arts that
Rangi had taught him, and he kept them amused
by his marvellous tricks. At first they were
jealous of their mother's love for her recovered
son ; they were inclined to quarrel and be spite-
ful. But he showed them his magic powers and
so won their admiration. He pulled a whale on
to the beach, using only one hand in the effort ;
he changed himself into all the different birds,
one after another ; he made himself invisible.
Awed by his strange powers, his brothers ceased
their persecution.
When he was grown up he wandered round
the village one night and put out all the fires.
This was a serious matter, for the secret of making
fire had long been lost. For many years the fires
had never been allowed to die out. Now they
were gone, and nobody knew how to start another.
In the morning the people cried out in dismay.
" Some enemy has entered the pah and served us
this ill turn,'' they lamented. " How shall we
warm ourselves and cook our food ? "
This was the opportunity Maui had been seek-
ing. " See how helpless we are when our fires
Maui 85
go out," he said. " What we need is the secret
of making fire. " I will go to the Fire-Goddess
for this secret."
The people exclaimed in horror at his daring.
His mother begged him not to expose himself to
such danger. But Maui would go.
He went gaily through the dreary dark pas-
sages that led below the earth to the cave of the
Fire-Goddess.
" Our fires on the earth are out," he said to
her. " I have come to you for help."
The Fire-Goddess pulled fire from one of her
finger-tips, lit a stick with it, and gave the stick
to Maui.
He set off for home, but he was not satisfied.
" This will start our fires," he thought, " but it
will not teach us how to kindle fire. It is not
what we need."
Coming to a pool of water, he purposely dropped
the flaming stick in it. The fire went out, and
he carried the stick back to the Fire-Goddess.
" See," he said, " I dropped the stick in the water.
Please give me another."
The Fire-Goddess drew fire from her next
86 Maoriland Fairy Tales
finger-tip, lit another stick, and handed it to
Maui.
Still disappointed, Maui treated this second
stick as he had treated the first. Nine times he
came back, and nine times the Fire-Goddess,
unusually patient, drew fresh fire from a finger-
tip. But at the tenth request she woke up to
the fact that Maui was tricking her, that he
was, in fact, trying to take all her fire from her in
order to discover how she set to work to make new
flame.
Angry at his presumption, she dashed the tenth
fire on the ground. From where it fell a burst
of fierce flame sprang. In a moment the whole
place was ablaze. Maui fled, the raging Goddess
after him.
Faster than the Goddess came the fire. It
roared through the passage, coming out to the
earth close behind him. The surrounding forest
caught, and Maui was soon wreathed in flames.
Speed could not save him, for the fire was ahead ;
he must use his magic. He changed himself
into a hawk and flew high above the flames.
But the air above the fire was unbearably
Maui 87
hot. Looking down, he saw a pool of water.
" I will cool myself there," he thought. He
dived into the pool, but to his horror he found
the water boiling with the heat of the fire. He
rose hurriedly again into the air.
As far as he could see on every side the land
was on fire. Even the sea was boiling with the
heat. What to do he could not think, nor how
to save his mother's house and all the houses of
the pah. His own life, too, was in danger. He
felt he could not bear the heat much longer.
Suddenly he remembered Rangi. He cried to
him for help. " Send rain," he begged.
Rangi heard the cry, saw Maui's danger, and
sent rain at once. But the fire was so great that
the rain could not quench it, so he gathered all
the rain clouds and storms of the sky and sent
down a deluge that made a flood. That put the
fire out.
Higher and higher rose the flood, till the Fire-
Goddess was thoroughly soaked and almost
drowned. She fled in terror to her cave. All
her fire was lost except some sparks which she
threw into the tops of the tallest trees.
88 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Maui was saved. He went home and related
his adventures. His people had been terror-
stricken at sight of the great fire and the flood,
and were rejoiced to welcome him. " But where
is the fire you went to find ? " asked his mother.
" It is in the tops of some trees," said Maui.
He climbed the trees and broke off small dried
branches. He rubbed the branches upon one
another till sparks flew out. He caught the
sparks in twigs and blew them into flame. He
had found the secret of making fire. Ever since
his people have made their fires from the branches
of these trees.
MORE ABOUT MAUI
Maui had a grandmother, a strange old Magic-
woman, whose bones worked enchantments. He
visited her and asked her to give him one of these
bones. She slipped out her jaw-bone from its
place and presented it to him. He returned home
delighted, for now his magic powers would become
greater than ever.
It was summer time, and the days were burn-
ing hot. The people grumbled at the Sun. " He
is too fiery," they said. The women said, " He
travels so fast through the sky that darkness
comes before our work is finished."
" Ah," thought Maui, " the magic jaw-bone
shall help me now."
He said to his brothers, " Come ! we shall force
the Sun to move more slowly."
Everybody laughed at such a wild idea. The
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90 Maoriland Fairy Tales
brothers were afraid to go ; but Maui spoke of
the magic bone and persuaded them to trust his
powers and help him.
For the next few weeks he and his brothers
were busy men, twisting ropes stronger, longer
and thicker than any seen on earth before. Maui
sang a spell over them to make them proof
against the power of the Sun.
When the ropes were finished the men set out
for the edge of the world. They travelled by
night, resting in the shadow of the bush by day,
so that the Sun should not see them and guess their
intention. When they reached the edge of the
world they lay down to wait for the dawn.
Maui gave his orders. " When the Sun begins
to rise above the edge, fling the ropes over him.
Then hold him firmly while I beat him."
Presently morning broke and the Sun came
rushing up to his day's work. " Wait till we can
see the middle of him," whispered Maui. " Now ! "
as the round body came into full view. They
threw the ropes and caught the Sun fast.
He struggled, he panted, he roared, he threat-
ened Maui with every penalty he could remember ;
More about Maui 91
but Maui only laughed, and the ropes held fast.
Then Maui beat him with the magic jaw-bone till
he was so flattened out, and his rays so scattered,
that he has never since been able to scorch the
world as he did before.
When the beating was over, and the Sun was
whining for mercy, Maui tied the ends of the ropes
firmly to the edge of the world. " You must
move slowly in future," he said, " for you are
tied to the earth. The day will be longer now."
Maui and his brothers returned home, well
pleased with their work. On a cloudy day the
ropes may still be seen, stretching from the earth
upward to the Sun. Any one not knowing the
story might mistake them for long beams of light,
but in reality they are the magic ropes, the signs
of Maui's mastery over the Sun.
Strange to say, the brothers began to fear
Maui. They were afraid that some day he might
turn his magic against them. When they could,
they made their excursions without him.
One day, when going fishing, they refused to
take him in the boat. He allowed them to start
without him, then changed himself into a bird
92 Maoriland Fairy Tales
and overtook them. " Row far out ! " he com-
manded as he seated himself in the boat.
" Why should we ? This is our usual fishing-
place." The brothers were frightened and un-
easy at finding that they could not escape from
Maui.
" Maui said : " One reason for going further
out is that you will catch more fish if you do."
" How do you know that ? "
"Do I not know many things that you have
never learned ? " asked Maui impatiently.
" That is true," said one of the brothers. " Per-
haps it is best to go."
They rowed farther out, till Maui said, " Stop.
Let down your lines." In a few minutes they
caught so many fish that the boat was heavily
laden.
" We have enough," said one. " Let us go
home."
" I have my fishing to do yet," said Maui.
" For that you must row further out."
" The boat is full already," said his brothers.
11 Besides, it is not safe to go out of sight of land."
" You know it is safe while I am with you,"
More about Maui 93
answered Maui. " Indeed, if you look you will
see that we are already out of sight of land."
The brothers looked. To their horror they
saw that the land was gone. Maui, using his
magic power, had stretched out the sea until
the other end could not be seen.
He laughed at their terrified faces. " You
need not be afraid," he said. " No harm will
come to you if you obey me."
The brothers realized that he had the power
that must be obeyed. They rowed out to sea,
further and further, until he gave the order to
cease rowing. " Here I will do my fishing," he
said.
He had carved a fish-hook from the magic jaw-
bone. This he carefully fixed to his line. Drop-
ping it into the water, he fished till the pull on
the line told him that something was caught.
It was no ordinary fish. The weight was
tremendous. Human strength alone could not pull
it up. Nothing but magic power could move it.
Maui grasped the line with both strong hands,
leaned over the edge of the boat, and sang a
spell to help the magic fish-hook.
94 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Slowly, inch by inch, he gathered in the line,
chanting more and more loudly to make the great
weight rise. The line came in now more quickly,
the water began to hiss and bubble and boil, the
boat heeled over to one side.
" Be careful, Maui. Be careful," his brothers
cried. " You will drown us all."
Maui did not hear them. The great fish was
rising, rising ; it came to the top ; the boat rose
on its back. It was an island from the bottom
of the sea that Maui had fished up !
The brothers sat in stupefied amazement,
gazing at the land on which their boat now lay.
Maui said : " This great fish is ours. By and
by we shall divide it and each brother shall
have his share. But first I must go to the Sea-
king to take him a peaceoffering, that he may
not be angry with us for bringing his fish to the
surface of the sea. While I am away, be patient.
Do not touch the island with your axes until the
Sea-king is appeased and I return."
He left them. Almost as soon as he had gone
those foolish brothers forgot his words. They
scored upon the surface of the island with their
More about Maui 95
axes, each one saying, " I will have this portion/'
" I will have that."
Now the island was still half fish. At the
touch of the axes it tossed its head, lashed its
tail, writhed from side to side, until its surface
was raised and dented in a hundred places. When
Maui returned he found mountains and valleys
where all the island had been flat.
" Foolish ones ! You have spoilt my beautiful
smooth island," was all he said. He was a good-
natured brother.
He dragged the boat down to the water and
they all went home. Later, they took seeds and
plants to the island and some of the brothers
went to live on it.
Maui was troubled over the death of friends.
" Is there no way of finding out whether men may
not live for ever ? " he asked his father.
His father replied: " Where the horizon meets
the sky lies Hin6, the giant Goddess of Death.
If any man safely enter her and touch her heart,
she would die and men would live for ever. But
she is so terrible that no man dare go near her."
" What is she like ? " asked Maui.
96 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Her body is that of a giant, her hair is like
tangled sea-weed, her mouth like that of a shark ;
from her red eyes come swift lightning flashes.
She is fierce and cruel beyond all telling."
" I will go to her to win eternal life for the
world," said Maui.
" No," said his father. His mother said : " Death
waits for you there. Something tells me that if
you go I shall never see you again. Do not go.'*
Maui would not be dissuaded. " Have I not
beaten the Sun ? " he asked. " Have I not fished
up a great island to be a home for men ? My
magic shall protect me. I will go."
He tried to find companions for his journey,
but everybody was afraid. Even his brothers,
though they knew his powers, would not face the
dreadful Goddess.
At last he set forth alone. Then the birds, who
loved him, gathered round to keep him company*
They hopped and flitted beside him on the track,
cheering him with their merry talk and sweet bush
songs.
At the end of their long journey they came on
Hine, fast asleep. " Silence now ! " Maui whis-
THE BIRDS GO WITH MAUI.
97
More about Maui 99
pered to his little friends. " I shall jump down her
throat as she lies there with her mouth so widely
open. If you wish to preserve my life, utter no
sound to waken her till I return/'
The birds promised in whispers to be silent as
the grave. Maui threw off his cloak and ran back
for his spring. He ran swiftly forward, leapt,
and alighted in Hint's throat. He did not slip
through quite so easily as he expected ; for a
moment his legs dangled outside in the most
comical manner. The birds tried to stifle their
laughter, but the little wagtail could not keep it
in. She laughed out merrily, and so set the others
laughing.
In an instant Hine woke, shut her great teeth
together, and killed poor Maui.
" Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! oh, dear I " screamed the
terrified birds. They flew off to take the sad
tidings to Maui's mother and father.
The remorseful wagtail hid herself in misery,
but the North-west Wind found her out and learned
from her what she had done. He flew to Rangi
with the news of Maui's death.
" Tell Hin6 to give up his spirit to me," said
ioo Maoriland Fairy Tales
Rangi. " She has his body, but his soul must
come to Sky-land." The Wind delivered the
message, and Hin6 had to give up Maui's soul.
So Maui went to live again in the sky, and there
he has lived ever since. When the nights are
dark the earth-men say: " Maui is doing that.
He has put his hand over the moon to tease us
here below."
THE KING AND THE FAIRIES
On Maui's island, many years after it was fished up
from the bottom of the sea, and when the forests
had grown and the land was peopled, there lived
a King who was good to his subjects and thought
constantly of their welfare.
Off the shores of the island fish were plentiful.
Shoal after shoal swam past the headlands ; mil-
lions crowded up the rivers. Through the long
summer the people fished ; the fish that were not
eaten fresh were dried in the sun and strung for
winter use.
But the only method of catching fish these
people knew was that of the line and hook. It
was slow work, in spite of the numbers of fish,
for they could catch only a few at a time ; they
were forced to see the rest of the shoal go by
uncaught. They often grumbled at the slow-
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io2 Maoriland Fairy Tales
ness of the work, but they never thought of any
better method.
The King thought much on the subject, how-
ever. One day, after listening to the grumbling
of his fishermen, he set himself to work to devise
some new and better method. He lay awake all
night ; he spent three days in puzzled thought
over the matter, but no plan came to him.
At last, tired of trying, he gave it up. "I
cannot find a new way," he told the fishermen.
That night he had a dream. He dreamt that
a voice said : " Go north. There you shall find
what you seek ! " The dream was so vivid, the
voice so real, that he could not forget. He told
his people about it, saying, " I will go north."
The people begged him not to go. " Dark
forests and bitter enemies lie to the north," they
said. " Besides, a dream may mean nothing.
If you must go, we go with you."
" That cannot be," replied the King. " You
must not leave your homes undefended."
" Neither can we allow you to go north un-
defended," cried his men.
The King perceived their earnestness and their
The King and the Fairies 103
love for him. " Perhaps, after all, the dream
meant nothing," he said. " I will wait to see if
it comes again." He went hunting, and thought
no more of the matter.
That night the dream came again. " Go north
to find what you seek," the voice said. " Go
alone, and go now."
" It must mean something," thought the King,
starting up. " I will go now, while my people
are asleep."
He threw his beautiful cloak of feathers over
his shoulders, found his weapons of the chase, and
crept softly past his sleeping people out into
the night. "I must hasten," he thought, "so
as to be far away before morning. My people
mean kindly, but the voice said, " Go alone," and
alone I will go till I find what I am seeking."
He set out, full of courage. During the night
he travelled over the country he knew. When
day came he rested or hunted his food. Each
night he went on again, till he reached the dark
forest. Here he travelled by day, for fear of
lurking enemies.
Food was plentiful. He snared or speared wild
104 Maoriland Fairy Tales
pigeons and tuis, caught fish in the rivers, gathered
bramble and fuchsia berries.
At last he came out beyond the forest. Another
day's journey brought him to the end of the land.
He stood on a low-bushed hill ; below lay a little
bay with a beach of white sand ; beyond that
was the open sea.
I cannot go further north," he thought.
Yet, where is the thing I seek ? I will wait,
to see what may happen." He lay down between
the bushes and rested, watching.
Night came. The drowsy birds went twitter-
ing to their nests, the moon rose over the hills.
Presently, from far across the sea, floated singing
sweeter than any uttered by mortal tongues.
Enraptured with the sound, the King sprang up.
Round the bend of the bay came a fleet of fairy
boats, decked with flowers. In the boats, some
rowing, all singing, were troops of fairies.
Reaching the beach, the fairies sprang to shore
and pulled their boats on to the white sand. Then
they dragged something from each boat and threw
it into the sea, shouting gaily : " In with the nets,
brothers ! This is a good fishing-place."
Maoriland Fairy Tales]
The Fairy Fishers.
105
The King and the Fairies 107
" Nets ! what are they ? " thought the King.
" Something to do with fishing, evidently. Ah,
this must be what I was sent to see."
He crept softly down the side of the hill, keep-
ing in the shadow. As he reached the beach
the fairies drew in the nets, and he caught his
breath with wonder. The nets, of shining silver
threads, were filled with leaping, flashing fish,
gleaming in the moonlight like spangled dancers
of the deep.
" Clear the nets ! In with them again ! "
cried the fairies.
They gathered the fish and strung them on
threads of flax, laughing, chattering and singing
all the time. Then into the sea again the nets
were cast.
The King watched, creeping nearer and nearer,
but always in the shadow. " I must see how
those nets are made," he said.
At last he stood amongst the fairies, unseen
because the moon had slipped behind a cloud.
He began to haul at one of the nets, helping the
fairies to pull it to the shore. When it came to
land he seized one end and tried to see how it
io8 Maoriland Fairy Tales
was made. The knots were hard to understand. '
He was still puzzling over them when the fairies
said : " In with the net again." He had to let
it go.
He walked to the next net as it came up, but
still he could not see how the knots were made.
He grew so interested in the nets that he forgot
about the moon, till suddenly a cry rose from
the fairies : "A mortal 1 A mortal is amongst
us!"
He looked up. The cloud had passed, the
moon shone full upon him, the fairies were flying
in dismay to their boats. They sprang in,
pushed off, and rowed far out to sea, leaving the
King alone on the empty beach.
He turned sadly shorewards. " All is lost,"
he said. " I have nothing to take back to my
people. A little longer, and I should have found
the secret of those knots."
His foot caught in something — he almost fell.
Stooping, he saw to his great joy that a net lay
at his feet. In their hurried flight the fairies
had forgotten it.
He gathered it up with thankful hands. " The
The King and the Fairies 109
voice spoke truly," he whispered, " this is indeed
what I sought. Now I can teach my people to
make nets."
When morning dawned he set off on his home-
ward journey. At each resting-place he practised
the knots with strips of flax, until by the time
he arrived at home he was ready to teach his
people how to make them.
The land was filled with joy at his return, for
the people had mourned him as dead. He showed
them the net and told of his adventure with
the fairies. He taught them the knots ; he
showed them how to make nets for themselves.
Then they all went fishing with their new
nets, catching hundreds of fish where in former
times they had caught twos and threes, and
storing up a plentiful supply for winter use.
So the good King obtained a blessing from his
people. To this day they use the nets he taught
them first to make.
HATUPATU
Hatupatu was the youngest of three brothers.
Though he was but a lad, his brothers were men.
They were cruel to him. They beat him and
starved him and gave him all the hardest work
to do.
Once, when out hunting, they snared a great
number of tuis and wild pigeons. Hatupatu
was ordered to cook some of them for supper and
to pot the remainder for winter use. None were
given to him ; he went hungry to bed. Next
day the elder brothers again went hunting,
leaving Hatupatu at the camp to finish potting
the birds.
Hatupatu looked at the food with famished
eyes. " I will have a feast," he said, " whatever
the result may be."
He brought out the cooked and potted birds,
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H2 Maoriland Fairy Tales
sat down, and fed till he had thoroughly satisfied
his ravenous hunger. When he could eat no more
he set to work to make the camp look as if an
enemy had broken into it and stolen the food. He
knew he need expect no mercy from his brothers
if they suspected him. He threw the cooking
pots about, knocked several things over, cut
himself a little and smeared the blood over his
hands and face and chest, then lay down and
slept.
When the brothers returned they found the
camp in confusion, the food gone, and Hatupatu
apparently wounded. " Some enemy has been
here," they cried.
They ran out to look for the enemy. No signs
in the bush around, no strange footmarks, pro-
claimed the visit of strangers. Puzzled, they
returned. The eldest brother bent to look at
Hatupatu' s wounds, and at once discovered the
trick. He shook the boy, pulled him from the
mat on which he lay, and pushed him towards
the spring. " Wash ! " he said.
Hatupatu tremblingly obeyed. As the blood
came off, and the brothers saw how they had
Hatupatu "3
been deceived, they flew into a fury. " You
are the enemy ! " they cried. They beat him
so cruelly that his screams rang through the
forest.
His old grandmother heard him from her
whare at the edge of the bush. She hurried to
the spot to see what was the matter. " Leave
him alone ! " she called to the brothers.
They obeyed her because they feared her magic
power. They left the boy and slunk away to
their camp.
11 Why did they beat you ? " the grandmother
asked.
Hatupatu told her about the feast and the
trick. For the first time she learned how cruelly
his brothers treated him. " You must run away
from them," she said.
" Where could I be safe from them ? " he asked
hopelessly. " They would find me and punish
me more cruelly than ever."
" I will give you a magic gift," she said. " You
shall have the power to enter earth or water
without harm coming to you. Thus you shall
escape from your brothers."
n4 Maoriland Fairy Tales
She gave him the power, and returned to her
home.
Hatupatu ran into the bush. He ran, and
walked, and ran on again, till many miles lay
between him and his brothers. When darkness
fell he crept into a heap of dry fern and slept
cosily. Next day he journeyed still further from
his brothers, till at last he felt sure he was safe.
He was happy at last. He lived by himself
in the bush, with no one to beat him and revile
him. Everything he caught was his own, so he
was well fed. Though alone, he was free, and
well content.
One day, while spearing birds with a long
sharp-pointed stick, another spear, crossing his,
pierced the tree from the other side. He stepped
round the trunk to see who was there, and found
himself confronting a Mist- woman.
He drew back in fear. He would have fled,
but her power held him. Tall as the tree, white
and mysterious, she looked down at the lad with
thoughtful eyes.
" It is a new bird," she said. She gathered him
up in one hand. " I will take it home."
Hatupatu 115
Hatupatu struggled, but she held him fast.
" I am no bird ! I am a boy ! " he cried. She
thought he was but chirping as other birds chirped.
She carried him to her home.
It was a huge room, full of birds. Birds of all
kinds were here, kept as pets, from bush and
river, from sea and lake. They were happy
enough, for the Mist- woman loved them and kept
them well fed. But Hatupatu, who was not a
bird, wept at the thought of his lost freedom.
It was lost indeed. For years the Mist-woman
held him prisoner, carefully fastening the door
on the outside every morning when she left the
house, shutting it with magic words each night
when she returned. She fed him well, and petted
him ; but she would not set him free.
At last he learned the magic words that un-
fastened the door. Now he only waited for a
chance to escape. He made his plan.
Each morning the Mist-woman asked, " Where
shall I look for your food to-day ? "
" Over the farthest ridge of hills are the finest
pigeons," Hatupatu replied this day.
" I will journey there," she said.
"6 Maoriland Fairy Tales
As soon as she was gone Hatupatu opened
the door and stepped out, fastening it securely
behind him. Gathering twigs, he stopped up
any holes through which a bird might squeeze,
for fear one should fly out and warn the Mist-
woman. Then he set off, running fast for free-
dom.
But he had missed a tiny hole in the house.
The smallest bird found it, squeezed itself through,
and flew out to warn its mistress of Hatupatu' s
escape. Back over the hills came the Mist-
woman, following fast in Hatupatu's track.
She soon overtook him, for with every few
steps she covered miles. As she reached for him,
however, he remembered his grandmother's gift.
Hastily muttering the magic words, he saw the
ground open before him. He stepped down.
The earth closed again over his head, leaving
the Mist-woman gazing in bewilderment.
He waited below the ground till he thought
she must have gone, then he came up again. But
she was still there, watching for him. He had
to run to escape her. As she overtook him he
entered the earth again. So the chase went on
Hatupatu "7
for hours, until at last she turned home in weari-
ness. He never saw her again.
In his flight he had unconsciously drawn near
his old home. When he noticed this he had a
desire to return to it. " Now that I am a man
my brothers cannot ill-treat me as they did years
ago," he thought.
He went home, but his brothers showed no pleas-
ure at his return. He was too big to be beaten
or starved, but they took a delight in quarrelling
with him and fighting him at every opportunity.
He was soon most unhappy.
A neighbour said : " Our tribe has many
enemies. Surely three brothers should fight them
rather than one another.' '
The elder brothers were pleased with the idea,
for they loved to fight. They gathered together
the warriors of the tribe and led them across
the lake and over the hills to fight a troublesome
tribe who had often harassed them.
Hatupatu begged for warriors and a place in
the canoes, but his brothers refused to listen to
him. They set off without him, and he returned
home disconsolate.
n8 Maoriland Fairy Tales
He longed to win a battle for his people, to do
something that would give him a place in theii
esteem and his brothers' respect.
11 1 will go to the fight," he said. " If I cannot
have men I can at least pretend to have them."
He had a plan in his mind. He borrowed thirty
cloaks like those the warriors wore, together with
several gayer ones such as commanders wore.
Rolling the cloaks into a bundle, he took them
on his back and set out.
Coming to the lake, he repeated the magic
words, stepped into the water, and walked across
on the lake-floor, eating mussels as he grew
hungry on the way.
Over the hills, on a little plain beside the bush,
he found his brothers encamped with their armies.
Walking softly, he crept into the edge of the bush
and unrolled the bundle of cloaks. Tying the
bushes into the shape of men, he dressed them
in the warrior's cloaks, keeping the richer ones
for himself. In a short time he had the thing
so well done that at a little distance his bushes
looked like men.
The enemy came in sight. They showed no
Hatupatu 119
fear of the armies on the plain, but Hatupatu
soon had them secretly terrified of his army.
As they approached he strode out from the
bushes, gave orders in a loud voice, disappeared,
changed his cloak, came out and gave orders in
a changed voice. He kept this up for a long
time, till he had worn all the gay cloaks. The
enemy thought there were many commanders
here, and that therefore there must be a great
army hidden behind the trees.
The battle began. Hatupatu could not go
into the open to fight, but he shouted orders and
made a great noise, keeping the fear of his army
in the minds of the enemy.
The elder brothers were losing the battle.
Their men were no match for the enemy. At
length they were driven back to the edge of the
bush, almost exhausted.
On came the enemy. They were now facing
Hatupatu's army of bushes. They halted. They
could see only thirty men, as they thought ; but
Hatupatu still shouted orders in different voices
behind the trees. How many armies were hidden
there ?
i2o Maoriland Fairy Tales
At last, with a shout, their leader rushed for-
ward. Hatupatu ran to meet him, and with one
axe-blow struck him to the ground. At the
sight of their leader fallen, the terrified enemy
turned and fled across the plain, their ears ringing
with the fancied shouts of thousands of hidden
warriors.
Seeing them run, the elder brothers with their
armies turned on them and drove them far across
the hills.
When they returned the warriors made speeches
praising Hatupatu's cleverness and courage. " He
shall be our leader," they said. " We will follow
none but him." Across the lake the best place in
the largest canoe was kept for him.
When they reached their own country the
warriors spread his fame far and wide. He be-
came the greatest and most powerful man in the
land.
His brothers dared not ill-treat him now, nor
even quarrel with him. He was so kind-hearted
that he never punished them for their unkind-
ness to him in his youthful days, but lived in
peace with them, happy in the position he had won.
THE STAR HUNT
Matariki was a Sky-fairy. His duty was tc
keep his star shining brightly that it might light
up the earth at night. So well did he love his
star, and so faithfully did he polish it, that it
soon outshone all other stars. This raised fierce
jealousy in the hearts of the Sky-fairies.
Brighter and brighter grew his star, until even
the people on the earth began to raise their eyes
in admiration.
Then Tan6 grew jealous. He wished the people
of the earth to be always praising the beauty of
the trees that he had made. In his eyes nothing
could compare with them. Yet here were the
foolish people gazing past his trees at Matariki's
star.
" It will grow dim," said Tan6. " I will wait."
But nightly the star grew brighter and more
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122 Maoriland Fairy Tales
beautiful, till all the world was gazing at it. The
beauty of the trees was quite forgotten.
Tane could bear it no longer. He sent for two
of the jealous Sky-fairies. " Help me," he said.
" Together we can catch this troublesome Matariki
and destroy his star."
The jealous Sky- fairies gladly promised their
help. The three made plans for catching Matariki.
" Wait a few nights, till he has forgotten your
visit to me and has lost any suspicions he may
now have," said Tane. " Then we will rush out
on him and kill him and take his star and
break it."
Matariki, being kind and gentle, had friends
as well as enemies. One of his friends was a
little Lake-Princess, the calm waters of whose
home Matariki had used as a mirror for his star.
The Lake-Princess had been proud to be of ser-
vice to Matariki, and the two had become firm
friends. The Princess, lying still in the soft
silence of the night, overheard Tane and his
friends plotting to kill Matariki. She at once
determined to help him.
She called the Wind to her side and told him
The Star Hunt 123
the plot. " We must help Matariki," she said.
" What can be done ? "
" We are not strong enough to fight against
Tane and the Sky-fairies," said the Wind.
" But we can warn Matariki" cried the Prin-
cess. " To-morrow I go to Sky-land to tell him.
Be here to help me."
In the morning the Princess sent a message
to the Sun. " Help me to rise to Sky-land."
The Sun sent down his strongest beams. The
Princess rose from her home in the lake and floated
upwards on the golden sunbeams through the
air. Light morning mists wreathed round and
hid her form from Tane's eyes ; the strong arms
of the Wind pushed her ever upward till she
reached the sky.
She found Matariki, told him all the plot against
his life and his star, and begged him to hide until
his enemies had forgotten their anger against
him.
" I cannot leave my post, little Princess,"
said Matariki. " My place is here. But I am
warned, and ready to fly at any moment to save
my star. Go back to your lake, lest Tane see
H
124 Maoriland Fairy Tales
you and work you harm. Take with you the
warmest thanks of Matariki for your friendliness
and courage.' '
The Princess went home. The clouds sent
down a little shower of rain to cover her from
Tane's eyes, the Wind flew to help her and to
hear how she had fared.
Three nights later Tan6 called on the Sky-
fairies to help him. The three rushed out together
to kill Matariki.
But he was warned ! At the first sound of
their approach he seized the star in his hand and
fled with it. With shouts of rage the three flew
after him, and the wild chase began.
Matariki had the lead. He flew at headlong
speed through the great spaces of the sky, winding
in and out between the stars, trying to hide be-
hind the moon. Tane rushed after him into
his hiding-places, just in time to see him escaping
in another direction. Sky-fairies scattered over
the sky drew back in fear of Tan6. No one was
brave enough to help Matariki.
Round and round the sky the fierce chase went
on. Matariki was still ahead, but he was growing
The Star Hunt **7
weary. " I must rest/' he thought. " I will go
down to my little Princess and hide in her lake."
He shot down to the earth. The Princess,
watching the chase with her heart beating for
him, was filled with joy when she saw him take
refuge in the lake.
" Hide there and rest," she said as he sank to
the cool valleys below the water. She floated
up to a rock to watch lest harm should come to
him.
One of the Sky-fairies had seen Matariki go
down to the lake. He hastened to tell Tane.
They all came down to the earth, and found the
Princess sitting on her rock.
" Give up Matariki," said Tane. The Prin-
cess slid into the water out of sight. She would
not give up Matariki, but her fear of Tane would
not let her answer him.
[ Matariki lay quietly at the bottom of the lake,
while Tane* shouted angrily above it. " I will
drive him out," said one of the jealous fairies.
He flew to the other side of the lake and sang
a magic song to draw the waters to him. In a
few minutes the lake heaped itself up at the end,
128 Maoriland Fairy Tales
and Matariki was left uncovered. Again he had
to rise and flee.
He left the earth ; once more the chase went on
in the sky. Matariki had rested and could fly
faster, while his enemies were growing wearied.
" I shall soon tire them out and be free," he thought
joyfully.
Poor Matariki. He was too hopeful. Tan6
saw that the race was over. " Something must
be done at once," he said. " We shall never
catch him now. Give me something to throw
at his star. We may at least break that."
He seized a star and hurled it with all his force.
There was a crash, a cry of despair from Matariki.
His splendid star fell in seven pieces.
Tane laughed. He picked up the broken pieces
and threw them far into the southern sky. " I
do not think the earth-men will gaze at the won-
derful star now," he said. " Their eyes will
turn again to the beauty of my trees." The three
went away triumphant, leaving Matariki gazing
with sad eyes at his broken star.
The seven pieces still shine on in the Southern
sky. Earth-men point to them and call them
The Star Hunt 129
"Little Eyes." "See!" they say, "through
them look down the eyes of brave men who have
died in battle and have been taken to the upper
world."
The Lake-Princess still loves to see them shin-
ing in the waters of her lake, for they belong to
Matariki, who is her friend. And Matariki's
heart still aches for the lost splendour of his star.
THE PET WHALE
Tinirau the King lived on an island across the
sea. He had a pet whale, which was so tame that
he could ride on its back. Summoned by the King's
whistle, the whale would swim to the shore to
be fed and petted, then off he would bear his
master for a merry ride on the sea.
Old Kae, a chief from a neighbouring island,
came to visit Tinirau. He was much interested
in the pet whale, and cast covetous eyes upon
it. When the time came for him to return to
his own island, he refused to go in the canoe.
He gave Tinirau plainly to understand that he
desired to ride home on the whale.
At last Tinirau lent him his pet. " Be kind
to him," he said, " and return him faithfully.
As soon as he touches the shore of your island he
will shake himself. You must at once jump off
131
13^ Maoriland Fairy Tales
upon the right side and allow him to return to
me."
Kae promised to obey instructions, and set out
on his homeward voyage. The whale swam care-
fully through the water, Kae high upon its back,
enjoying his unusual method of travelling.
When they came to the shore, and the whale
touched the bottom, he shook himself as a sign
for Kae to jump off. But Kae sat still. " Swim
further in," he commanded.
The whale obeyed his voice. Carefully he swam
a little further in, then again stopped and shook
himself.
" Go on ! " cried Kae, now quite determined
to steal this obedient whale. For the third time
the whale swam, stopped and shook himself.
After that no commands moved him ; he lay
still, afraid of being stranded on the beach.
Kae's people stood on the shore to welcome
their chief. " Bring ropes ! " he called to them.
" Haul the whale to shore."
They brought their strongest and longest ropes,
and threw them noosed over the whale, pulling
hard together to haul him to the shore.
The Pet Whale 133
The whale struggled and would have escaped,
so great was his strength, but in his twistings his
blow-holes became choked with sand. A few
spasms and writhings, sad to see, and he lay dead !
Kae was disappointed. It was as a living pet
that he had wished to keep the whale. However,
now that the creature was dead they might as
well have a feast, he said. He gave orders that
the whale should be dragged on shore, cut up and
cooked.
Fires were made, ovens heated, the flesh was
cooked. Everybody on the island was on the
shore, feasting for days. Songs were sung,
dances danced, stories told. All were merry.
And Kae never once remembered to be ashamed
of his broken promise to the kindly Tinirau.
In the other island Tinirau waited patiently
for his pet. " He stays long away," he said.
" I hope no harm has come to him." On the
day the ovens were opened on Kae's island the
delightful smell of roast whale was borne across
the sea. " Ah ! they eat whale in Kae's island,"
Tinirau remarked, but he could not, would not,
believe it was his pet
i34 Maoriland Fairy Tales
At last, however, passing strangers brought
word that it was really Tinirau's whale that had
been eaten on Kae's island. All the story was
told of Kae's cruelty and theft.
The King was filled with wrath. " Who
will go to punish this false Kae ? " he
asked.
Forty men stood up. " We are ready," they
said.
The wife of one of them sprang forward. " Hear
me, great Tinirau ! " she cried. " Our hus-
bands go to certain death, for Kae's army is strong.
He will send out a great number against these
forty, and slay them all. Send us, their wives,
instead."
A burst of laughter came from the men, but
the woman went on : "If women go Kae will
not suspect any harm. He will think we have
merely gone on a visit to his island. He will
entertain us instead of gathering his army. We
shall use our magic to make him fall asleep, and
while he sleeps we shall carry him here to
be punished by you. What think you of my
plan ? "
The Pet Whale 135
" It is good, if the other wives are willing,"
replied the King.
The other wives came forward, till forty of
them stood in a row. " We are willing,' ' they said.
The men were doubtful of the wisdom of allowing
women to go on such a dangerous errand, but
the wives were determined, and the King approved
of the plan. He gave orders that boats should be
made ready.
The women set out. When they reached Kae's
island, the old chief, thinking they had come as
visitors, treated them politely. He took them
into a great hall. The islanders brought food
and made a feast.
When the feast was over stories and songs
were given. The evening went merrily. As
midnight approached the forty women began to
work their magic, singing charms that threw the
people one by one into a heavy sleep.
They sang on. Everybody seemed to be asleep
but Kae. Unblinkingly he stared at them. How-
ever strong they made their spells, his eyes
remained wide open.
One of the women, at last suspecting a trick,
136 Maoriland Fairy Tales
crept to him and bent low to look at him. With
a laugh of triumph she sprang up again, holding
out two shining pieces of polished shell, which
she had taken from Kae's eyes.
i When he saw his people dropping so suddenly
off to sleep the king had grown suspicious. Taking
the round pieces of shell from the wall beside
him, he had placed them over his eyes, thinking :
" The shining of the shells will look like the shin-
ing of my eyes. They will think I am watching
them, and will be afraid to touch me." In reality
he was in a magic sleep as sound as that of any of
his people.
I The women stepped outside and formed a line
of twos at equal distances, stretching from the
hall to the boats on the beach. Two were left
in the hall. When all were ready these two lifted
Kae and carried him out to the next two. These
two carried him to the next two ; they in turn
passed him on. So he was passed down the whole
line.
Still sleeping his magic sleep, he was placed in
one of the boats. The women sprang in, pushed
off, and rowed home.
The Pet Whale 137
Their husbands met them, pleased at their
success and their safe return. Kae was handed
over to Tinirau, who punished him so effectively
that he never stole again,
ON THE MOON
When Shining-Eyes threw the Fire-that-never-
goes-out into the sky it was only a flaming stick,
but it grew rounder and wider and cooler, until
at last it became a great Moon-land. It was a
wonderland place. Everything gave out a golden
light — mountains and lakes, rocks and trees and
flowers, and even the walls and spires of a beautiful
moon-palace that Marama had built.
In the palace lived Marama, all alone. At
first he had been so charmed with his fine new
land that he had not noticed the loneliness, but
after some time he began to say to himself : " Why
have I no one to share my work and play ? There
is no pleasure in playing star-ball by myself,
and I am tired of singing with no one to listen.
Oh, for a companion ! "
He asked the Sky-fairies to live with him, but
139
i4o Maorlland Fairy Tales
they refused ; they had their stars to guard. He
looked down on the earth. A beautiful girl with
a calabash in her hand walked to a stream at the
foot of a hill for water.
A young man ran down the hill after her.
" Ina ! Ina ! " he called. It was her old playmate,
the friend she loved better than anybody else.
She waited for him. They went to the stream
together, and Marama watched the return.
Several times the girl's face was turned upwards
to the moon ; each time Marama thought it more
beautiful.
All next day he could think of nothing else.
" She would never leave her old playmate and her
home," he thought, " and yet she is the com-
panion I desire. What a sweet friend she would
be."
When night came again he watched for Ina.
Down the hill she came as before, her calabash in
her hand. Her playmate had not yet appeared ;
she awaited him.
. " I will go down ! She shall return with me,"
said Marama suddenly.
In a flash he stood before her. At first his
On the Moon 141
brightness dazzled her, but little by little she
looked at him and saw that he was a stranger. I
" I am Mamma," he said. " I have come to
ask you to live with me on the Moon. It is a
beautiful life, and I will be kind to you. Come ! "
Ina drew back. " I cannot leave my parents
and my home,,, she said. " I should be most
unhappy."
" You will soon forget them. On the Moon
you will have other joys."
" But I do not want to forget them. And I
have a friend. I will not come."
" Think how lonely I am up there," urged
Marama. " Ina, you will never grow old in the
sky, for I will take you to bathe inTan6's shining
lake, which gives perpetual youth and beauty.
Come with me."
" No," said Ina, " no, no ! "
Marama flung his arm round her and lifted her
from the ground. She screamed, caught a young
palm-tree with her hands, and clung to it with all
her strength. Gently but surely Marama lifted
her, dragging the palm-tree out by the roots, and
carried her up to his Moon-land.
*42 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Plant the palm-tree here," he said as he set
her down. " It will always remind you of your
earth-home."
They planted the tree on the edge of the Moon,
placing the calabash beside it. " Come and see
your new home," said Marama. He led her
proudly over his palace and its gardens. She was
dazed with her quick flight and the brightness all
around her, but she could not help seeing the
beauty of the Moon-land.
Everything was new and strange. It took her
many days and nights to learn to work and play
as they worked and played in Sky-land ; but
Marama taught her gently, and they were soon
the best of friends.
She learnt to make fine curtains from the fleecy
morning clouds, and to throw them across the sky
till they hung like lace-work over the blue. In
times of storm she rolled the thunder-clouds;
morning and night she painted the domed sky-roof
with crimson and purple and gold. She kept the
inside of the Moon-palace as bright and beautiful
as Marama kept the outside, for she grew to love
her home.
On the Moon 143
When the day was over came the time for play.
Then Marama and Ina danced and sang, played
with the stars, rode on the moonlit clouds, paid
flying visits to Rangi or the fairies. Every month
they bathed in Tane's shining lake, so that they
should never grow old, but should for ever remain
young and gay and beautiful.
But although Ina was so happy, and although
she had learned to love Marama and her moon-
home, she never forgot her old life, as Marama
hoped she would. Deep in her heart lay the
memory of her parents and her friend.
Often when the earth lay lit beneath the Moon
she would stand for hours under her palm-tree,
trying to see the hill and her friends. Until
she had bathed in Tane's lake, she could not dis-
tinguish objects at such a great distance ; after
that, however, she found that she could see per-
fectly. Now, when she looked down, she saw
her old playmate travelling wearily over the land
in search of her, while her mother sat in the door-
way wailing for her lost child.
Full of pity for her sorrowing friends, Ina flew
to Marama.
144 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Marama," she said, " my mother weeps for
me, and my friend roams the country in search of
me. Look on the earth and you will see their
sadness."
| Marama looked below. " If my old playmate
could see how happy I am he would be pleased,"
she went on. " Bring him here for a visit, Marama,
that he may ease my mother's heart on his
return."
" It is well said. I will bring him here," said
Marama.
i He flashed down to the earth, seized the young
man in his arms, and carried him up to the Moon.
Ina stood awaiting them. Astonishment and joy
shone in her old friend's eyes as he stared at
her.
Ina told him what had happened to her on that
night when she disappeared from the hillside, and
he told her how her friends had sorrowed for her
ever since. Ina showed him the wonders of the
Moon-land, and talked of her great happiness in
living there.
" I can never come back to the earth," she said,
" for I have bathed in Tank's lake ; but you must
On the Moon 145
not think I am unhappy here. Indeed, I would
not return to the earth if I could, the pleasures
of this life are so great. Stay with us for a little
while that you may see what happiness is
mine.,,
He stayed with them, and they taught him the
work and the play of the sky. When it was time
for him to return Ina said : " Tell my mother and
my friends what you have seen, that they may
not sorrow for me any longer/ '
She called the rainbow, charging it to carry her
old playmate safely to the earth. The rainbow
hung over the earth, Ina said farewell to her
friend, and he slid down the shining bow to the
hillside.
When he told Ina's mother of her daughter's
new life and great happiness, she dried her tears
and rejoiced. As each night fell, and the Moon
rose high in the sky, the earth-friends spoke of
Ina and Marama and the wonders of their Moon-
land home.
Ina was satisfied. But she has never lost her
love for her old earth-home. Even now, when
the Moon is clear of clouds, you may see her
146 Maoriland Fairy Tales
gazing earthward, the tall palm-tree above her
head, and the calabash at her feet. That is what
you see if you look hard at the moon when it is
at the full.
THE WOODEN HEAD
In his tower on a high hill Puarata the wicked
magician kept a monstrous wooden head. The
head was served by thousands of invisible genii,
who sallied forth at its commands to work its
evil will.
Puarata' s power grew. He had only to cry,
" Strangers pass ! " to draw a shout so loud and
terrible from the wooden head that all travellers
within sound of it dropped dead. The forest was
strewn with the bones of those who had perished ;
the hill became a noted danger spot, a menace to
the country. Far and wide Puarata was hated
and his power dreaded.
Parties of brave warriors left their homes to
creep up the hill and surprise the old magician,
and so put an end to the terror. But the invisible
genii in the forest saw them and warned their
147
148 Maoriland Fairy Tales
master. Then the great shout rang forth, and
the warriors fell dead. The people despaired.
At last they begged help from Hakawau, a
powerful sorcerer who used his art for good.
" Rid us of this terror/' they urged.
Hakawau considered. " I will dream over it/1
he said. " To-morrow I will tell you whether it
will be well for me to go."
He called his genii round him, uttered spells,
slept, and dreamed. In his dream he saw his
genii driving Puarata's genii before them. " It is
well," he said when he awoke. " I shall destroy
Puarata's power."
Taking with him a brave and trusted friend, he
set off for Puarata's hill. The people in the
villages they passed came out to bring them food
and cheer them on their dangerous way. Some
said : " You go to death. Puarata is too strong.
Stay here. Attempt not this rash deed." But
the two would not be stayed.
At the edge of Puarata's country the heart of
Hakawau' s friend began to fail him, but Hakawau
cheered him on. Later they came upon a pile of
human bones. " We are now within sound of
The Wooden Head 149
the shout," he said. " Are we not courting
death ? "
Hakawau waved his hand. In a moment his
friend saw what had before been hidden from him
— thousands of good genii surrounding them.
" Our guards," said Hakawau. His friend was
from that moment fearless.
On a hill that faced Puarata's tower Hakawau
called up his genii. Half he sent to show them-
selves before the tower, the remainder stayed
invisibly by him.
As soon as the good genii showed themselves
before the tower the evil genii rushed out at them.
For a time Hakawau' s genii fought ; then, acting
on instructions, they pretended fright, and fled
down-hill. Puarata's genii pursued them far across
the valley, leaving the tower undefended.
As soon as they were gone Hakawau sent the
waiting genii to capture the tower.
They seized the tower, tied up the wicked
Puarata, and beat him till his magic flew away.
As the evil genii returned one by one from their
fruitless pursuit through the valley, they too were
seized and beaten till their magic flew away.
*5o Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Let us go up to the tower/ ' said Hakawau to
his friend.
In the tower Puarata lay fast bound. He
ground his teeth with rage at sight of his successful
enemy. " Strangers come ! " he called, invoking
the aid of the wooden head to avenge his fall.
No shout followed. A low, wailing cry was
the only sound the wooden head had power to
make. " Kill me," said Puarata. " My magic
is gone. I would be gone, too."
" No," said Hakawau. " I do not kill. Your
evil deeds are for ever stopped."
He unbound Puarata, leaving him alive but
powerless.
So there was peace in that country, and men
journeyed unafraid.
THE FOUNTAIN OF FISH
The Sea-King's waves rolled up between the
banks of a great river, stole a Shore-King's son,
and carried him away to deepest ocean. The
Sea- King shielded his servants ; he would not
own to the Shore-King that wrong had been
done, or that the lost boy lay drowned in his dark
caves ; but the sea-birds told the Shore-King all the
truth.
The Shore-King resolved to punish the Sea-
King and his servants for the evil they had done.
" I cannot punish them in their own waters," he
said. " I must bring them to my country."
He sent an invitation to the Sea-King. " Visit
me with all your people," he said.
The Sea-King sent back word : " In the long
evenings of summer I will come."
The Shore-King prepared for their reception.
151 I
i52 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Calling Titipa, his magician, he told him of the
plan for punishing the Sea-King and his ser-
vants.
" I will bring you a magic net/' said Titipa.
He travelled to the fairies' fishing-place for it.
He reached the beach at night. The fairies
were hauling out their magic net ready for their
fishing.
Walking in amongst them, Titipa, by one device
after another, kept their attention so fixed on
himself that he delayed the spreading of the net
all night. Morning broke while he still tricked
them. Terrified at the daylight, the fairies fled,
leaving the magic net behind. Joyfully Titipa
took it home.
" The Shore-Goblin shall help us," said Titipa.
He found the Shore-Goblin and bespoke his aid.
Pleased to help, the Shore-Goblin gathered up
great stones from the river and driftwood from
the forests. The King's men built the stones into
ovens and piled the driftwood ready for huge
fires. At last all was ready. They waited for
the Sea-King.
The long evenings of summer came. A cry
The Fountain of Fish 153
went up from the watchers on shore : " The
Sea-King and his servants ! "
The ocean was filled with fish. Up through
the mouth of the river they came, a mighty foun-
tain, leaping, falling, flashing, pouring one upon
another in their millions, so closely packed that a
man could cross from bank to bank upon their
backs. So far back the fountain stretched that
the end could not be seen.
" Cast the net," called the Shore-King. Titipa
cast the magic net. A thousand fish were caught
and flung in heaps on the shore, there to be pre-
pared for the waiting ovens.
Again the net was cast, again and yet again.
Each time it came in laden with its struggling
spoil. The fires were lit, the ovens heated, the
fish cooked. The Shore-King's people held high
feast.
The Sea-King had escaped. Seeing at once
the trap that had been laid, he swam back to the
sea. He sent commands to his strongest waves
to save the fish.
Six of the biggest waves rolled up the river and
poured over the banks, gathering as they went all
154 Maoriland Fairy Tales
the fish that were left alive. The Shore-King
and his people fled far inland when they saw the
waters coming.
The six great waves rolled back to the sea.
" We have done what we could, but many thou-
sands of your servants have been killed/ ' they
said. It was true. The Sea-King had indeed
been punished. The Shore-people had obtained
their vengeance and a feast.
Each year since then, when the long evenings
of summer come, the Sea-King's foolish servants
swim up the river to view the place where their
friends were slain so long ago. Each year the
Shore-Goblin piles up his wood and stones. Each
year the Shore-men cast the net and hold high
feast. Each year the six strong waves are sent to
save the foolish fish.
RATA
Rata was a young man who had never seen his
father. Throughout his boyhood he wondered
why, but it was not till he had grown up that his
mother told him.
" Years ago," she said, " when you were but a
raby, the wicked goblin Matuku stole your father
away. I have never seen him since. It was a
heavy sorrow to me, but I could do nothing to save
him, for I am but a woman, while Matuku is a
goblin."
" I am a man now. I will find my father,"
said Rata. " See, I am strong, and my heart is
fearless. Tell me where Matuku lives."
The mother smiled proudly at her eager son.
11 Yes," she said, " you are strong, and your heart
is fearless, but Matuku is a goblin. He would
take you too. I cannot let you go."
155
156 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" I must go," Rata replied. " I can never rest
again until I find my father. Tell me where the
goblin lives.' '
He urged his mother daily, till at last she told
him where Matuku lived. At once Rata set off
to find the place.
As he drew near he met a bound man who asked
where he was going.
I seek Matuku," answered Rata.
He lives beneath the ground on which we
stand," said the man. " Once every month, when
the new moon shines, he comes above the earth.
Come then."
" I shall remember. Why are you tied ? "
" I am kept here to warn Matuku when the new
moon shines. He is cruel ; he works much evil
in the land. If you have come to punish him for
wickedness to you or yours, I will help you."
" My thanks," said Rata. " With the new
moon I return. You shall help me then to punish
him. What is your name ? " he asked, thinking
that perhaps his father stood before him. The
man gave his name, but it was not that of Rata's
father. Rata went home again to wait.
RATA AND THE G^OMI.
157
Rata 159
When the time of the new moon was nearly
come he went again to the place where the
goblin lived.
The man awaited him. " I have made a plan
for you," he said.
He pointed out two fountains of clear water
bubbling from the ground. " These are Matuku's
fountains," he said. " In this he looks at him-
self ; in that he washes himself. He comes first
to this one, to see how long his hair has grown.
You must not come near him then, for he would
see you in the water. Wait till he goes to the
other ; there, while he washes himself, you can
spring upon him from behind."
" I will follow your plan," said Rata. " Hide
me till the goblin comes."
The man hid him in a bush, looked at the new
moon rising in the sky, and called Matuku up.
The ground rumbled and shook, a big hole opened
close to the fountains, and the huge goblin sprang
through it into the daylight.
He capered about and stretched his limbs.
" I wonder how much my hair has grown
this month," he said. He went to the first
160 Maoriland Fairy Tales
fountain to look at himself. Rata kept very
still.
Matuku crossed to the second fountain. Dip-
ping his head in, he began to wash himself. With
a sudden spring Rata was upon his bent back.
Catching the long hair in his hands, he cried:
" Tell me where my father is, or I will kill
you."
Matuku gave in at once, for his whole strength
lay in his hair, which Rata grasped. " Let me
go. Do not kill me. I will tell you anything you
wish," whined the powerless goblin.
" Give me back my father."
" I cannot give him back to you. I gave him
to the Moonlight Goblins many years ago."
" I shall go to look for him," said Rata ; " but
I cannot leave you here to work more mischief
among men. I will not kill you, but you must
take some other form. You have the power to
change yourself. What will you be ? "
The Goblin thought, while the hands on his hair
grew tighter. " A bittern," he said at last, and
as a bittern he fled screaming into the bush. His
power as a goblin was over.
ft
ft
Rata 161
Rata set the man free and they both went to
their homes.
" Where is the Moonlight land ? " Rata asked
his mother.
" Far across the sea. And you have no canoe.
" I will make a canoe.' '
11 But you have no strong axe to fell the tree.
" I will beg a strong axe from my great-grand-
father/' said Rata.
He went to his great-grandfather, told him why
he wished to make a canoe, and obtained a
beautiful greenstone axe, polished and hard.
Rata went to the bush to find a suitable tree
for his canoe. On his way he passed a heron and
a sea-snake fighting on the shore.
" Help me," the heron called to Rata, but be-
cause it was considered unlucky to interfere with
a sea-snake Rata would not help the heron.
He found the finest tree in the bush and set to
work to cut it down. All day his axe flew. At
last, with a tremendous crash, the great tree fell.
There he left it to lie till his return in the morning.
On his way home he saw the heron and sea-snake
still fighting.
i62 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Next morning he returned to the bush to begin
the labour of hollowing his tree. The fight was
still going on. As before, the heron called:
" Help me," but Rata would not go. " You will
never succeed in your undertaking unless you help
me," called the heron.
Rata walked on, unheeding. He looked for his
tree. To his amazement and dismay, it stood
again in its old place, upright and unmarked. He
looked, he rubbed his eyes, he looked again.
There was no mistake. It was the same tree,
standing as it had stood the day before he felled
it.
" I will cut it down again/' he said.
He worked all day. By night the great tree
fell once more.
As he returned the following morning to the
bush, the fight between the heron and the sea-
snake was nearly over, for the heron's strength
was almost gone. " Help me," she cried faintly,
for the last time. The snake was just about to
kill her. Taking pity at last, Rata rushed in with
his axe and cut off the sea-snake's head. The
grateful heron slowly followed him to the bush.
Rata 163
The tree was again raised to its old place,
growing there as if his axe had never touched it.
He cut it down once more, the heron watching
him. " I will wait to see what happens," he
said.
He hid between the trees to watch. As soon as
he was out of sight troops of Bush-fairies came
from their hiding-places, birds flew in from all
directions, insects crept and ran and flew, until
the tree was ringed about by creatures of the
bush.
" Sing the Magic song," said a bush fairy. They
all sang —
" Fly together, chips and shavings,
Stick ye fast together,
Hold ye fast together ;
Stand upright again, O tree 1 "
Slowly the tree raised itself and stood in its
place. Every chip, big or little, was carried to its
place by birds and insects. In a few moments
the tree was whole again.
Rata stepped from his hiding-place and seized
a fairy. " Why have 3^ou done this ? " he asked.
" Why did you fell one of Tan6's trees without
164 Maoriland Fairy Tales
first obtaining Tank's permission ? " cried the
fairy.
M Ah ! " said Rata. " I forgot. I am ashamed
that I did not ask Tan6 before felling his tree.
My anxiety must be my plea." He told them
why he wanted the canoe.
" That is a good reason," said the fairies, " but
you should have consulted Tan6 first. However,
you shall have our help. Go to your home. We
will make the canoe for you. When morning
breaks it shall be finished."
! Rata went home happy. When he had gone
the fairies sang a song that felled the tree and cut
the branches off ; commanded by the heron, the
birds and insects pecked and bored and drilled
until they hollowed out the trunk and smoothed
the sides. When Rata returned in the morning
a mighty canoe lay where the tree had lain.
Delighted at his good fortune, he expressed his
thanks, then went back to the village, crying:
" Who will go in my canoe to fight the Moonlight
Goblins ? "
" Where is your canoe ? " asked his friends.
" We have never heard of it."
Rata 165
" Come and see," said Rata. He led them into
the bush. When they saw how large and strong-
made it was, a hundred and forty men offered
themselves as warriors. But when they tried to
move the canoe they found it so heavy that they
could not push it down to the water.
Again the Bush-fairies came to the rescue.
They sent a message to the Sky-fairies ; the Sky-
fairies sent a rain that swelled the river into a
flood pouring fast across the land. Higher and
higher the water rose, until it lifted the canoe and
floated it down to the sea.
Rata and his warriors took their weapons, said
farewell to their friends, and rowed away. The
flood went down and the land grew dry.
In three days the canoe reached the Moonlight-
land. Rata and his men sprang ashore. The
sound of solemn chanting met them. " I will
see who sings. Wait here till I return," Rata
whispered.
He walked silently till he came to a circle of
trees. Within the circle of trees sat three circles
of goblins ; in the middle of the central space lay
Rata's father.
166 Maoriland Fairy Tales
The goblins were practising a magic song for
raising the dead to life. Rata listened till he knew
it thoroughly, then returned for his men.
Silently they crept round the circle of trees.
At a signal from Rata they rushed in, taking the
goblins so completely by surprise that they were
able to destroy them all. Lifting Rata's father,
they carried him towards the canoe.
The noise of the fighting, however, had reached
a thousand other goblins in the land. They came
down behind Rata's little band, and a fearful
fight began.
Though Rata's men were brave, their number
was too small to cope with such a multitude. In
a very short time they all lay dead upon the
ground. Rata alone was left to face the enemy.
They closed in to kill him. Suddenly the
memory of the magic song came to him. He
began to chant it. The goblins drew back in
dismay. They dared not touch him while he sang
the magic words.
One by one, raised by the charm, his men
sprang up alive and well, rushing again to the
fight.
Rata 167
He continued singing. His warriors fell, but
rose again unhurt. His army could never be
destroyed. " We have no chance of beating
them," the goblins said. They turned and went
away.
Thankfully Rata and his men marched to their
canoe and rowed away. And joyfully Rata's
mother welcomed her son and long-lost husband
safely home again.
THE ISLAND AND THE TANIWHA
A fierce storm at sea caught a party of fisher-
men out in their boats. Rowing hard to shelter,
they all reached their homes except two brothers
called Manini and Hiki, who were farthest from
land.
Buffeted by the wind, blinded by the rain,
tossed on the great waves, they were carried
past every point of land they tried to reach.
To hope to guide their canoe was useless ; they
must be content at last to drift before the
storm. Gradually they were carried out to sea,
till they passed the place where the sky hangs down
to meet the tumbling waters. Presently they
saw land ahead. They guided the canoe to a
sloping sandy beach.
They sprang out and drew the canoe high on
the shore. Further along the beach were rocks
170 Maoriland Fairy Tales
and a hill. They hurried towards these, hoping
to find shelter from the storm.
From the rocks a cave led into the hill. Voices
came from the cave. As they stood hesitating,
an old woman came to the entrance, asking," Who
are you ? "
" Two brothers who have been driven to your
island by the storm," answered Manini. " May
we take shelter in your cave ? "
" Yes, yes. Come in," she said. She led the
way into the cave. They followed her footsteps,
but could not see her, for the cave was dark.
" Rest here till morning," said the woman's voice.
Worn out with their fight against the storm,
they laid themselves down and slept till morn-
ing.
When they woke, daylight streamed into the
cave. The old woman sat looking at them. Be-
hind her stood her daughter, a maiden so beau-
tiful that each brother at once resolved to win
her for his wife.
The old woman was friendly. She brought
food and set it before them. To their astonish-
ment, it was raw — raw fish, raw potatoes, raw
The Island and the Taniwha 17*
bird. " Do you not know the use of fire ? "
Manini asked, remembering also the darkness of
the cave the night before.
" Fire ! What is that ? " the woman asked.
The brothers searched for dried wood. They
rubbed rotten pieces together till a tiny flame
sprang out ; they wrapped the pieces in dry
grass, waving them in the air till the whole burst
into stronger flame ; then they pushed the
blazing bundle into a heap of sticks they had
collected. There was soon a big fire.
Curiously, and with some anxiety, the women
had watched every movement. They were
plainly frightened. " What do you do with it ? "
the mother asked.
" Cook our food," answered Manini.
She could not understand. Fire and cooked food
were as unknown to these people as the building of
houses. She peered into the fires ; the smoke
rose into her face and turned her sick. " It is an
evil thing," she cried. The brothers showed hei
where to stand and tried to teach her the dangers
and the uses of the flames.
To cook their food they heated stones in the
172 Maoriland Fairy Tales
fire. Raking them out when red-hot, they packed
them into a small pit dug in the ground, and laid
the food on top, placing a layer of leaves under
and over the food. They then spread turf over
the top of the pit, and left the food to cook.
After a while they turned the turf off and lifted
out the food. Such an appetizing smell arose
from it that the women could not resist it. They
ate their share with relish. " It is good," said
the mother. " We shall eat no more meals raw."
She went round the hill to tell her neighbours.
They came running back with her, eager to see
the strangers, the wonderful fire, and the oven
in the ground that made food taste delicious.
Manini and Hiki showed them all how to make
fire and cook their food. They found themselves
held in such reverence by these simple, untaught
people that they resolved to settle on the island.
They built a house for themselves, and taught the
people to build others.
When the house was finished, Manini said to the
old woman: " Give me your beautiful daughter
to be my wife." But Hiki had already said the
same thing. The mother did not know which
The Island and the Taniwha 173
brother to favour. She did not think of asking
the daughter for her opinion on the matter.
If she had, the daughter would have chosen
Manini.
At last the old woman said to the brothers :
" You must run a race. The winner shall marry
my daughter if he can afterwards kill the Tani-
wha."
All the islanders gathered round, a course was
set, and the brothers raced. It was a close struggle,
but in the end Manini won. The beautiful
daughter laughed with joy.
" Where is the Taniwha ? " Manini asked.
" He lies over the highest ridge of the hills/'
said the old woman. " From there he descends
to slay and eat. If you kill him you kill our one
great dread, the terror of our island. He is a
monstrous dragon, so huge that when he walks he
shakes the earth."
" I will kill him," said Manini. He thought
deeply. " Help me," he said to the islanders.
" I have a plan."
The men came willingly. Under his direction
they worked all night, digging a deep pit that
i74 Maoriland Fairy Tales
would hold fifty men. Next day they laid a
screen of branches over the top. Hiki and the
fifty men stepped in with their weapons, and lay
hidden beneath the branches, to wait while Manini
decoyed the Taniwha to the pit.
Manini set off alone to rouse the Taniwha and
lead him down to death. Over the farthest hills
he went, till he came to the highest ridge. There
in his den the Taniwha lay asleep.
Manini raised a shout and woke the monster.
With a roar of rage he rushed from his den. Snarl-
ing and snorting, he pursued Manini over the hills
and down the valleys towards the pit. Manini
had to fly like the wind, for, in spite of his weight,
that shook the ground, the monster ran swiftly.
Manini reached the pit, slipping under the
screen of branches just in time to escape the claws
of the Taniwha.
Then began a terrible fight. The Taniwha tore
at the screen, his great claws reaching through
almost to the men's faces. " Cut them off," cried
Manini. The men swung their axes and cut off
the monster's claws. Roaring with pain and rage,
the Taniwha tore a hole with his teeth and came
The Island and the Taniwha 175
at them with his mouth wide open. The fifty
attacked the huge head. After a stubborn battle,
he lay at last helpless and dying over the edge of
the pit. Then they sprang out and finished kill-
ing him.
During the fight the terrified islanders had
shut themselves up for safety. Now they came
out of their hiding-places, shouting for joy that
the dreaded Taniwha was dead, and loudly prais-
ing the courage of Manini. " He shall be our
King," they said.
So Manini married the beautiful daughter, and
was made king of the island.
Hiki said : "I also wish to be a king and marry
a beautiful wife. I shall take the canoe and seek
another island."
He sailed away and found another island,
where he also married a beautiful wife and was
made king.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN IN
THE WORLD
Once there were seven brothers. They were all
tall and strong and handsome, but Ruru, the
youngest, was the handsomest of the seven. For
this he was hated by his brothers. They forced
him to act as a slave to them, giving him the
roughest work to do and the oldest clothes to
wear. They even beat him. Indeed, they treated
him so cruelly that his life was most unhappy.
His mother's heart ached for him, but his father
was too old to notice.
The brothers heard of a maiden who lived across
the sea. " Her name is Roronga. She is the
most beautiful maiden in the world/' the people
said.
" I will go and ask her to be my wife," said the
eldest brother.
177
*7S Maoriland Fairy Tales
So will I," said the next.
She may prefer me," said the third.
Let us all go and see who can win the beauti-
ful maiden/' said the fourth.
They gathered together their finest clothes and
a number of handsome presents. These they
packed away in their big canoe with the sleeping-
places below the deck.
" Is not Ruru to voyage with you ? " asked
their mother.
" Certainly. He must come to cook and carry
for us. He need not think he will see Roronga,
however. She would not look at a man who has
no fine clothes." The eldest brother said this
loudly, for he loved to tease poor Ruru.
They set off. In a few days they reached the
land across the sea. The people met them and
welcomed them, and prepared a feast in their
honour.
The six brothers went to the feast, leaving
Ruru behind to carry all their things from the
boat to their lodgings.
After the feast there was a dance. As they
were dancing each brother asked his partner,
The Most Beautiful Maiden 179
11 Which is Roronga ? " and each partner, wish-
ing to be thought beautiful, whispered : " I am
Roronga. Tell nobody.'' Each brother, delighted
to think he was dancing with the real Roronga,
asked : " Will you be my wife and come with me
across the sea to live ? "
And each partner answered, " Yes." So they
were all married quietly during the next few days,
and not one of the brothers found out that he
had been deceived.
But what about Ruru ? On the first night of
their stay, after carrying their belongings, he
had to lay fires, buy food, bring in water. Step-
ping out of the house with a calabash in his
hand, he asked a child: "Where shall I find
water ? "
The child pointed. " By Roronga's house
there is a spring," she said.
" Roronga's house ! " thought Ruru. " She
is sure to be away at the dance. It cannot
matter if I peep in to see her home."
But Roronga was not at the dance. She sat
quietly in her house. When Ruru peeped in she
saw him. She liked him, though he had no
180 Maoriland Fairy Tales
handsome feather cloak. " Come in ! " she said,
and smiled.
Ruru came shyly in. Never had he dreamt of
any one so lovely as this maiden with the great
dark eyes and sunny smile. She talked and made
him welcome, and drew him on to tell her all his
life. So she learnt of the harsh treatment he
received.
When it was time for him to go she said :
" Come back to-morrow night. Another dance
will be given for your brothers, but I shall not
go."
Next night he came again, and the next. While
the elder brothers danced with the false Rorongas
Ruru and the real Roronga sat talking in her
house. They loved each other and were married,
and Roronga promised to cross the sea with Ruru.
" But I must hide you,'* he said, " for if my
brothers see you they will try to take you from
me.
When the six elder brothers, with their six
wives, came laughing and chattering to the boat
the next day, they had no idea that the most
beautiful maiden in the world was hidden in
The Most Beautiful Maiden 181
Ruru's cabin. Nor did they find it out through
all the voyage.
As soon as the boat touched the shore the elder
brothers sprang to land to lead their wives to their
mother's home. " Mother," the eldest said as
he drew near. " Roronga is my wife. Welcome
the most beautiful maiden in the world."
" It is not true I " cried the next brother. " I
have Roronga."
Then there was confusion, for every brother
maintained that he had the real Roronga, shout-
ing loudly and working himself into a rage, while
each false Roronga looked under her eyelids at
the others.
The mother called for silence. " There are
not six Rorongas," she said. " Besides, not one
of your wives is handsome enough to be called
the most beautiful maiden in the world."
" That is true," said Ruru's voice. He had
quietly followed his brothers to the house.
" Mother, none of these is Roronga. She lies in
my cabin in the boat. Come and see ! "
The elder brothers roared with laughter.
" Ruru marrying Roronga ! " they shouted.
182 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Absurd ! " The wives were ill at ease. It
might really be Roronga.
" Let us go to the boat/' said the mother. On
the way their friends gathered and accompanied
them. By the time they reached the boat all the
village stood about to see Roronga.
" Look in my cabin, mother," said Ruru.
His mother stooped. " It is true ! " she cried.
" It is Roronga."
She took her hand and led her out. At once
everybody saw that this was the most beautiful
maiden in the world. " Roronga ! Roronga ! "
they shouted. " Welcome ! Welcome ! Ruru
has won the great prize. Let us make a feast."
The brothers were enraged at the trick that
had been played on them. " You lied ! " they
said to their wives. They were ready to beat
them ; but their mother said, " Leave them alone.
You well deserved what you got for your cruelty
to Ruru."
The people made a great feast. The happy
Ruru and Roronga danced, and were admired by
everybody. Ruru's friends gave him fine clothes,
and in them he looked far handsomer than ever.
The Most Beautiful Maiden 183
The cruel elder brothers and their deceiving
wives were punished by being left out of the feast.
Never again were they allowed to make a servant
of their brother, nor treat him harshly, for by
marrying Roronga he had become a great man.
Now everybody looked up to him and treated
him respectfully. And all his life he lived happily
with Roronga — the most beautiful maiden in the
world.
THE GIANT IN THE CAVE
In a huge bone-littered cave lived a cruel Giant.
With him lived his pack of two-headed dogs, to
help him in his hunting. He and his dogs were a
scourge to the country.
The Giant had a monstrous nose, so big that
he could smell things that were miles away.
When hungry he poked his nose out of the cave
and sniffed the air. " I smell men," he would
say, and off he would go with his two-headed
dogs to the hunt. Many a party of travellers,
passing through the country, was never seen
again.
Once he found a party of men who had a woman
with them. He ate the men, but the woman he
saved. " She will make a good servant," he
said.
He took the weeping, terrified woman to his cave.
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186 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Clean my cave, light my fire, and cook my
meals," he said. " Never try to escape or I shall
tie you up."
It was a terrible life. Shut away from friends,
her only companions the horrible Giant and his
bloodthirsty dogs, poor Kaia felt that she pre-
ferred death to life. Once, while the Giant slept,
she stole away ; but the dogs barked so loudly
that they woke the Giant. He rushed out,
caught her, and brought her back.
" Now I shall tie you up," he said. He tied a
long cord to her wrist, fastening the other end to his
own wrist. " When you are out of my sight I
shall constantly jerk my end," he said. " If you
have gone I shall know at once."
Kaia was worse off than ever. Every day she
looked towards the East, thinking with a great
longing of the home-faces there.
One day, as she sadly watched the river running
past the mouth of the cave, a great idea came to
her. " It is the river that passes my home," she
thought. " How quickly it would take me there.
If I could make a raft ! "
She looked about her. Along the river bank
The Giant in the Cave 187
grew raupo. " I will cut a few sticks each day
while the Giant sleeps," she said. " Tied together
with flax they will make a raft. I will try once
more to escape."
Each day after his dinner the Giant went to
sleep. Then Kaia was able to walk a little way
outside the cave, though prevented by the cord
from going far. Now she began to make use of
this time, cutting raupo sticks, tying them firmly
together with flax, and hiding them in the
rushes.
Slowly the raft grew bigger, until it was strong
enough to bear her. Now she waited for a day
on which it would be safe to go — a day when the
dogs should be away and the Giant should be in
a heavy sleep.
After waiting many days, these two things
happened at once. Creeping quietly from the
cave, she slipped the cord from her wrist and tied
it to a bunch of rushes. " If the Giant wakes
and pulls, the rushes will first bend and then
hold," she thought. " So he will think I am still
here. That will give me time."
She pushed the raft into the river and stepped
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188 Maoriland Fairy Tales
on to it. With a long stick she pushed it off
the bank and guided it down the swift stream
towards her home.
In the cave the Giant slept heavily and long.
Waking at last, he tugged at the cord. The
rushes bent and then held, as Kaia expected.
The Giant thought, " She is there.' ' After some
time, however, he said : " She stays long by the
river." He tugged again, but still the rushes
held. He pulled harder. The rushes came up
by the roots and were dragged in on the edge of
the string.
" Kaia ! Kaia ! " he shouted, hoarse with rage
at the trick. No Kaia answered. He strode to
the opening. With his long nose he sniffed the
ground ; she had not gone that way. He sniffed
the air, but she had not gone that way. He
sniffed the river. " She has gone that way ! "
he roared. " I will catch her."
With one gulp he drank the whole river, drying
it from end to end. But Kaia was not on the
river. With a roar of rage the Giant went back
to his cave, there to lie and sulk for several days.
The river was a big drink even for a giant ; so
The Giant in the Cave 189
much cold water at once did not altogether agree
with him.
When the Giant swallowed the river Kaia had
stepped off her raft on to the bank. She ran
to her home, safe and sound. The joy of her
parents and friends over her return can hardly
be described. They had long given her up as
dead.
She told them about the dreadful Giant and
how she escaped from him. " That was cleverly
done/' said her friends. " Tell us where to find
the cave. We must kill this Giant."
Travel north-west to find him," replied Kaia.
The north-wrest wind is his snoring as he lies
asleep. Light a big fire in the doorway of his
cave, so that he will not be able to rush out on
you. He will try to spring out through a large
hole in the roof. There you can wait for him."
When next the north-west wind blew hard a
strong party of men crept softly to the cave.
The two-headed dogs lay asleep beside the Giant.
" That is good I " the men whispered.
They piled a great heap of brushwood in the
doorway and set it alight. The smoke and flames
190 Maoriland Fairy Tales
rushed into the cave and the crackling awoke the
Giant. He tried to spring out through the hole
in the roof, but there the men were waiting with
their spears. As he came up they killed him.
The dogs were stifled by the smoke in the cave.
So at length there was peace and safety in that
land.
TAMA AND HIS BROTHER
Richly laden fruit trees hung over a garden
wall. Two boys, passing, eyed them with greedy
looks.
" We could easily reach them from our stilts,"
remarked Tama.
" At night, when the owners are asleep," added
his brother.
At night they came on their tall stilts to the
wall. They were able to reach the fruit. They
feasted to their heart's content.
So sweet was their stolen treat that they re-
turned the next night and the next. But the
owners had missed the fruit and lay in wait for
the young robbers. Hidden in the branches,
they sprang to the ground and gave chase as soon
as the brothers appeared beneath the tree.
Tama dashed away on his stilts, but his brother
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192 Maoriland Fairy Tales
was caught at once and carried into the house.
Then the people, taking a short cut, intercepted
Tama. The only road left open to him led
directly to the sea. He turned into this road.
The people followed him and caught him as he
reached the sea.
They stood in a semicircle round him on the
landward side.
" Chop down his stilts ! Tumble him into the
sea ! " they shouted.
A tumble into the sea was the very thing Tama
did not desire, so he cunningly laughed as if well
pleased at the idea.
This set the people thinking, " He wishes to fall
into the sea. He has some plan of escape that
way." They immediately changed their axe-
blows to the landward side.
In a minute the stilts gave way. Tama fell to
the ground, but he was ready. With a spring he
was up again, running for life. They chased him
again, but in the darkness he evaded them.
Hiding in the bush, he heard them searching for
him all that night and all next day. At last they
grew tired of the hunt and gave it up.
Tama and His Brother 193
Tama crept out and made his way home. His
brother was not there, nor could he find him any-
where. " The people must have caught him. I
must go to his help," said Tama.
As soon as it grew dark he went to the house.
A noise of singing and dancing came from within.
The door was shut. He could not see in.
He pulled himself up the wall till he reached
the roof. Pulling out a little bundle of thatch, he
looked into the house.
His brother's face met him, close against the
roof. It lit up with joy at the sight of him.
" Tama ! " whispered the poor boy.
" What have they done to you ? " asked Tama.
" They tied me in this basket and hung me to
the roof, and here they left me. Not a mouthful
of food or water have they given me all day. I
fear they mean to starve me to death. Help me,
Tama ! "
" I came to help you," said Tama. " But I
must think of a plan. I dare not make the hole
bigger, or they would see it."
He thought in silence for a few moments.
" They are dancing below you ? " he asked.
194 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" Yes."
"How do they dance ?
" Badly. We do it much better.1
" Tell them so. Jeer at them. Tell them we
dance much better at our home. They will take
you down and tell you to prove your words.
Dance then till you are hot and must ask for air.
When they open the door dance near it till you see
a chance to rush out. Be sure to fling the door
shut behind you. I will do the rest."
" I will carry out your plan/' his brother said.
" Hi ! you people there below/' he called from
his basket. " Why do you not dance gracefully ?
I never saw such wretched dancing ! "
The dancing stopped. The people gazed up in
amazement at his boldness.
" Such antics ! " he went on. Such twists and
turns ! Like wooden people ! I wonder you are
not ashamed." He laughed and jeered unceas-
ingly.
" Keep quiet up there ! " cried the people.
" We do it far better at home/' he went on.
" You should see our dances ! "
The angry people rushed at the basket and
Tama and His Brother 195
pulled it down. " Dance, and prove your boasts/'
they cried.
Setting him free in the middle of the floor, they
sat round the sides of the room ready to jeer him.
In a few minutes, instead of flouting him they
were staring hard with envious eyes, for he danced
beautifully. Indeed, they had never seen such
grace of movement before.
Round and round he went, backwards and
forwards, till everybody could see how hot and
tired he was. " Air ! " he cried, " or I cannot
dance."
They opened the door. Now he began to
dance in rings, making each circle wider than the
one before. As the last one brought him to the
door he sprang outside and flung the door shut
behind him.
Tama was waiting with a heavy beam. He
threw it across the door. " Lash that end to the
post," he said. Between them they secured each
end As the door opened outwards, the people
were prisoners until some passing neighbour
drew the beam from its fastenings.
Leaving the tricked people to beat and hammer
196 Maoriland Fairy Tales
on the door, the brothers quietly went home.
Though victorious in the end, it is said that for
many months they kept well out of the way of
those people. Certain it is that they never again
stole fruit from the garden wall.
TAMA AND HIS WIFE
Tama grew into a man with an ugly face but a
kind heart. It is a great blessing to have a kind
heart, for then people forget the ugliness of the
face in loving the goodness of the heart. Through
his kindly ways Tama was able to win one of the
most beautiful wives in the country. His wife
loved him, his children adored him. Though so
ugly, he was perfectly happy.
But an old companion called Tute, who had
years before rowed away to another land, came
back to visit Tama. He was handsome, but he
had a bad heart — so bad that he carried off
Tama's wife in his canoe and took her away to
his own country.
Tama was hunting in the bush, out of hearing
of his wife's cries for help. When he returned
the children ran sobbing to him to tell him of
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198 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Tute's treachery. Rage and grief beat together
in the husband's heart. " I go to punish Tute
and bring back your mother/ ' he said.
The children held his arms. " Tute left a mes-
sage for you," they said. " The words were
these : ' Tama cannot follow me, for I have sung
a magic spell. Forced by my power, every-
thing on sea and land shall hinder him. All
brambles, thorns and nettles of the bush shall
hold him back ; all storms and monsters of the
sea shall rise against him.1 Do not go, or we lose
father and mother both."
" No magic power shall hinder me. No dangers
can drive me back," said Tama.
" But he said more," the children cried. " His
words were : ' In an ugly face lies no power
against me. This is my safety.' "
Tama's heart sank low, but at last he said :
" I will journey first to Fairyland to seek
for beauty. Then I will bring your mother
home."
Placing the children in a sister's care, he started
on his journey.
The road to Fairyland was long and dangerous,
TAMA'S FLIGHT ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS.
199
Tama and his Wife 201
but he travelled fearlessly. Half-way he met a
snow-white heron.
" I go to Fairyland/* said Tama. " Is the
way clear ? "
" You will never reach that country/' said the
heron. " The way leads through a long dark
passage guarded by two evil spirits. They will
not let you pass."
" Yet you have passed them ? " questioned
Tama.
" I flew above their heads."
11 Lend me your body that I also may fly above
their heads."
He told the heron Tut6's treachery. Roused
to pity, the bird agreed to help. He lay down in
the bush and slept. Tama made himself small,
crept into the white bird-body, and flew off
with it.
Coming to the dark passage, he passed safely
over the heads of the evil spirits. Past the pas-
sage were mountains. High over these he flew
till he came to a beautiful lake lying in their midst.
Here was Fairyland.
He dropped to the shore of the lake. The
202 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Fairies gathered round him, asking : " What brings
Tama here ? " They knew him, even in the
heron's body.
He told them of his loss. " I come for beauty,
that I may regain my wife," he said. " Draw
fine patterns on me, that I may be as beautiful
as you," he begged.
" Certainly," they said. He stepped out of the
heron's body and they drew fine spiral patterns
on his skin.
He viewed himself in the clear waters of the lake
and saw that he was handsome. "It is good.
You have my thanks," he said.
Heated after his long journey, he dived into the
lake to swim. When he stepped out he found
to his dismay that all the lines had been washed
off his skin.
Why did you wash ? " the fairies cried.
But I need patterns that will not come off in
water," Tama said.
We cannot make them," said the Fairies.
For those you must go to the next Fairy-
land."
Entering the heron's body again, Tama flew on.
u
Tama and his Wife 203
More mountains, another lake ; he had found
the next Fairyland.
He told his tale to these Fairies. They prom-
ised to make patterns that would not wash off ;
' but you must be ready to bear great pain," they
said. " These patterns are pricked in."
" I will bear any pain to win back my wife,"
said Tama.
He lay on the ground, while the Fairies tattooed
his body. The pain was dreadful. Tama all
but fainted, but he would not cry out. " He has
a brave heart," said the Fairies.
When the beautiful spirals were finished, he
bathed in the lake, but found no water would wash
off these patterns.
The Fairies were so pleased with him that
they taught him a charm to use against Tute's
magic.
He flew back to where the heron's soul slept in
the bush, returned the white body so kindly lent,
and set off to find Tute's country.
Now Tute's magic began to show its power.
All brambles, thorns and nettles of the bush
gathered in Tama's path, tearing at him with
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204 Maoriland Fairy Tales
their hindering hands. His handsome face and
loudly-chanted spell forced them to draw aside
and let him pass. Thick forest rose and
barred his way ; the charm cleared a path for
him. Even mountains fell away before its
power. His heart grew light with thankfulness
and joy.
He reached a little village by the sea. Here
he told his story and begged for help. The kindly
people lent him a canoe and men to cross the sea
to Tute's land.
Tama took with him in the boat ashes from the
village fires and a heap of boards.
When well out to sea Tute's magic power sent
fierce sharks and monsters of the deep. They
gathered round the boat to devour its crew.
Throwing out the ashes he had brought, Tama
darkened all the water round them. The ashes
gone, one by one the boards were flung into the
sea. These the monsters seized with their great
teeth. While they fought and struggled over
them, thinking they were good to eat, Tama and
his men escaped.
Now Tutu's storms rose up. The great waves
Tama and his Wife 205
almost dashed the boat to pieces. But Tama
sang his charm until the storm-waves died into
the sea. So at last he came safely to Tute's
land.
Looking from Tut6's doorway, his wife saw
Tama rowing up the harbour. She rushed to
meet him. Husband and wife could scarcely
speak for joy.
The people standing on the shore stared at
Tama with amazement in their faces. " Tute
told us he was ugly," they said. " He is now
handsome. Come, tell Tute he is here."
They found Tut6 and told him, but Tut6 refused
to believe them. " It is impossible," he said.
" If Tama tried to come, all the brambles, thorns
and nettles of the bush would hinder him. If
he passed those, the forests and mountains would
stopliim. If he passed those, the storms and mon-
sters of the sea would stop him. It is impossible
for him to pass my guards." He sat in his
house, refusing even to look out towards the
harbour.
After some time, however, he missed Tama's
wife. He called her, but she did not answer ; he
206 Maoriland Fairy Tales
looked for her, but she was not to be found. At
last he rushed down to the beach to see if Tama
had really come. He was too late. Tama and
his wife were far across the sea.
SEA GOBLINS
Rua the King went hunting. His son Toka went
swimming with other boys ; but when Rua re-
turned from his hunting the young prince was not
with his companions. " He swam far out with
us, but he never came back to shore," the boys
said. " We fear the Sea-Goblins have taken him,
for darkness had fallen.' '
The King's grief was terrible, for Toka was his
only son. His people wailed aloud when they
saw the sorrow in his face.
He spoke no word, but, running to a rock that
overhung the sea, leapt into the water.
His people cried, " Come back ! " but the waves
closed over his head. Alive or dead, his son should
be found if he searched the whole foundation of
the sea.
The King had one magic gift — the power to
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208 Maoriland Fairy Tales
breathe beneath the water. He could not drown ;
he would never rise to the surface again till he had
found his son.
At the bottom of the sea it was so dark that
many times he stumbled. But, in spite of diffi-
culties and dangers, he went bravely on all night,
through the deep hollows and over the wave-
beaten hills.
With the morning he came out to a strange land.
Before him stretched a wide, bright plain, lit up
by sunbeams. In the middle of the watery plain
stood a great carved house. " The Goblins'
house ! " thought Rua.
It was the Goblins' house. Drawing nearer,
Rua saw with wonder the beauty of the carving
on the front of it. He raised his eyes to the orna-
ment over the doorway, and his heart stood still
with horror. It was Toka, his beautiful son,
turned to wood by the heartless Goblins and set
up as an ornament for their house. For this they
had stolen him from his companions !
The King rushed into the house, but no one was
there. Coming out, he met an old woman.
" Where are the Goblins ? " he asked her.
THE SEA GOBLINS' HOUSE.
209
Sea Goblins 211
" Far away in the deepest caves of ocean,"
she replied. " But who are you that you dare to
come to the Goblins' house ? "
" I am Rua the King. They have killed my
son and set him over their doorway. Point out
the track that I may follow them and be avenged
on them for his death."
The old woman's eyes shone with joy. " At
last one has come to destroy these wicked
beings ! " she said. " Stay here. I will tell you
of a plan, and do all in my power to help you.
I, too, come from your land. The Goblins killed
my husband, but me they kept as doorkeeper for
their house. I wept over your beautiful boy
when they brought him down. But I am old
and frail. I cannot save my people from their
cruel hands."
" Help me to save them. Tell me the plan,"
said Rua.
" Listen, then," she said. These Goblins can-
not bear the light of day. Sunlight falling on
them kills them instantly. All the daylight hours
they spend in the darkest ocean caves. When
night comes they return to this house to eat and
212 Maoriland Fairy Tales
sleep. I keep the door, to waken them with the
first lightening of dawn, that they may leave the
house before the sunlight enters/'
" The plan ! Tell me the plan," begged Rua.
" I come to it," said the woman. " In the roof
are many crevices through which the daylight
streams. You, being strong, can climb upon the
roof and fill the crevices so as to shut out all the
light. While they sleep we shall also block the
door and windows and every crack around them.
Then, when morning comes, the house will be
dark. The Goblins will think it is still night and
will sleep on. When the sun is up we shall open
the door, and the sunlight will kill them."
" The plan is good," said Rua. " Let us begin
at once."
They gathered weed. Climbing to the roof of
the house, Rua filled the crevices till no beam of
light could enter from the chinks. Then round
the walls he went, till every crack was filled.
That is well done," said the old woman.
Hide now. The sun is sinking fast ; my cruel
masters will soon come home."
Rua hid. In silence they waited for the return
Sea Goblins 213
of the Goblins. The sun sank and night fell.
Chattering, pushing, quarrelling, the ugly Gob-
lins came home in droves. They fed and quar-
relled and lay down to sleep. Only Rua and the
woman were left outside. Soon all was still.
Rua crept softly to where the woman sat. To-
gether they blocked the door and windows till no
ray of light could enter. Then patiently they
waited for the dawn.
The night seemed as if it would never end ; but
at last the first faint streaks of daylight came.
The watchers smiled, well pleased. Brighter and
brighter grew the light, but still the Goblins slept,
for in the house hung heavy darkness.
One of the Goblins woke. " The night is long.
Is it not morning yet ?" he cried.
" Sleep on ! Sleep on ! " called the old woman.
The Goblins slept again. At intervals they
stirred and called, but every time the woman
called, " Sleep on ! "
When the sun was high in the sky, and the
sunshine beat upon the roof, the woman said:
" Let in the light ! "
She flung open the door, while Rua tore away
214 Maoriland Fairy Tales
the coverings from the cracks and windows. The
sunlight streamed into the house and fell on the
Goblins. Mad with fear, they tried to rush out-
side, but they fell dead over the doorway as the
light struck on them. Not one was left alive.
" That was well done," said the woman. " The
world is rid of a cruel pest."
" I will burn the house," said Rua. " No evil
things shall live in it again. First I will lift down
my son. He shall be carried home."
With sorrowful tenderness he lifted down the
little wooden statue, laying it gently on the
ground. He took down several pieces of the
marvellous carving also to show his friends.
Then he fired the house.
As he stood beside the woman, watching the
burning of the house, some one moved behind him.
Turning, he looked. Toka, no longer a wooden
statue, rose to his feet a living boy !
The magic spell cast on him by the Goblins had
died with the burning of the house. With a cry
of gladness he sprang into his father's arms. The
King held him close, whispering, " My son !
My son I "
Sea Goblins 215
The old woman nodded and smiled at their joy.
" Let us go home/' she said. Then they remem-
bered her and thanked her for her help.
They returned to the shore, carrying the carv-
ings with them. Rua's friends made a great
feast, rejoicing in the safety of their King and
Prince.
To this day the carvings that the people make
with tools of stone are patterned on the pieces
brought by Rua from the Goblins' house,
THE GREAT BIRD OF THE HILLS
A man named Pou was caught in a storm and
driven in his canoe far out to sea. He was alone ;
his single strength was not great enough to force
the canoe back to land. The storm continued
for several days, driving him further every hour
from his home. Half-dead with cold and hunger
and terror at his helpless drifting, he was flung
up at last on a little island. Here he was found
by some of the inhabitants, who took him to the
king.
The king treated him generously, providing
him for many months with food and clothing,
and giving him a home in his great house. But
Pou longed always for his old home and his wife.
His thoughts of them kept him most unhappy.
" Why are you sad ? " the king asked at
length.
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218 Maoriland Fairy Tales
" I think of my wife and wish for her night and
day," replied the man.
" If that is so you shall return to her."
" I have longed to do so ; but you have no
boats strong enough to cross that great stretch
of sea, nor could I ask your men to risk the
dangers of the voyage."
" True," replied the king ; " but I have a bird
which will carry you across."
" A bird ! "
"He is never shown to strangers, therefore
you have not seen him," said the king. " Promise
to step off his back the moment he shakes him-
self, and I will lend him to you for your journey
home."
" But if he should shake himself above the
sea ? "
" He will not do that."
" Then I promise gladly."
The king gave a loud call. From the distance
the Great Bird of the Hills flew towards them.
So large he was that a man could sit on his back
and be no burden.
" He will bear you across the sea and safely
The Great Bird of the Hills 219
past the fierce goblin of your mountains,' ' said
the king. " You must pass the goblin at the
time of sunset. Once past him, the Bird will
shake his wings. You must at once descend
from his back, that he may return to me while
the goblin is still dazzled by the sun."
Pou promised to do exactly as the king com-
manded. Two baskets of food were brought to
him at the king's orders. Taking grateful fare-
well of the kindly monarch, he seated himself on
the Great Bird's back and was borne high into
the air above the sea.
The strange voyage lasted for several days.
Each night they rested on rocks whose heads
stood out above the sea. Pou's baskets of food
stood him in good stead. The bird fished from
the rocks.
At last they came in sight of Pou's own land.
At the edge of the land stood the mountain where
the goblin lived.
The Great Bird hovered in the air, waiting for
the time of sunset. When it came the sun's rays
shone full in the eyes of the seaward-gazing
goblin, dazzling him. Then the Great Bird flew
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220 Maoriland Fairy Tales
swiftly past, carrying Pou to safety. The goblin
heard the stroke of the mighty wings, but his eyes
were blinded.
Once safely past, the Great Bird shook him-
self, desiring to return while still the sun shone
in the goblin's eyes. But Pou, eager to reach
his home, forgot his promise to the king, took no
thought of the bird's danger. " A little fur-
ther ! " he said. " Bear me a little further ! "
The bird flew on, then shook himself again.
" Further yet," said the selfish Pou. He forced
the bird to carry him to his home.
Carried to his very door, Pou stepped down to
the joyful welcome that awaited him ; the Great
Bird turned and flew with lightning swiftness
for his home, hoping yet to be in time to pass the
mountain safely.
Alas ! he was too late. The sun had sunk ;
the goblin could see again. He threw a net over
the Great Bird, dragged him to his mountain,
killed him and ate him.
Away in his island the king waited for the
Great Bird to come back. Weeks passed. " Some-
thing must have happened," said the king. A
The Great Bird of the Hills 221
message came from the wind : " The Great Bird
of the Hills is dead. The goblin of the mountains
killed him."
Grief and anger filled the heart of the king.
" Who will bring this murderous goblin here that
I may punish him ?" he cried.
The bravest of his warriors rose. " I will bring
the goblin or die in the attempt," he said.
The king called up a sea-monster. The warrior
stood on its back and was carried across the sea
to the land of Pou.
" When we reach the land I shall step ashore,"
said the warrior to the monster. " Wait for my
return." As the land drew near he chanted
spells to protect himself against the goblin's
power.
When he sprang to land and climbed the
mountain-side it was night. A red light shone
from the open doorway of the goblin's house.
The warrior looked in. The goblin's friends made
merry with him in his house.
" They are alike. How shall I know which
is the goblin I have come to seek ? " the warrior
wondered silently.
222 Maoriland Fairy Tales
He remembered suddenly that he had once
heard of the strange overlapping teeth of the
goblin of the mountains. " When he opens his
mouth to talk I shall know him," he thought.
He entered boldly. Surprised, the goblins
tried their magic powers on him, but his spells
had made him proof against them. He talked,
and made them talk, but he could not discover
the overlapping teeth.
" I must make them laugh," he thought.
He told them funny stories, till they all laughed
and the overlapping teeth gleamed out. " It is
done ! " said the warrior to himself. He sang
a soft-toned charm that sent them instantly to
sleep.
Standing over the goblin of the mountains, he
sang a second charm to make his sleep so deep
that no movement would waken him. Then
he searched for a big basket, packed the helpless
goblin in it, and carried him down the mountain
to the sea.
The sea-monster awaited him. Stepping on
its back with his sleeping burden, the warrior
gave command to return. The goblin did not
The Great Bird of the Hills 223
waken till the sea was crossed and the basket
opened before the king.
There he was put to death for his cruel deeds.
The brave warrior was rewarded by the king as
his courage deserved. But never again would
the Great Bird fly over the hills at his master's
call.
THE FLOATING ISLAND
Two boys played together. They spun tops
and bowled hoops, threw the dart, and learned
how to swing far out over the river on a long bent
pole, dropping and diving into the water below
and swimming to the shore.
The father of one of them made a new kite for
each, shaped like a bird with outspread wings,
and with a long tail hanging where the bird's tail
would be.
In flying them the tails became entangled.
The boys pulled too hurriedly at the strings, and
both kites fell broken to the ground.
" Your fault ! You pulled too fast," said Ono.
" I will straighten them," said Rima, stooping
to disentangle the tails.
Ono kicked them ill-temperedly. " If my
225
226 Maoriland Fairy Tales
father could not make better kites than those he
would not make any," he said.
Rima sprang up, aflame at the ingratitude.
Your father never does make any," he cried
He never makes anything, or does anything.
He is out to-day fishing in my father's boat, using
my father's lines, because he has nothing of his
own. He is a good-for-nothing."
Afraid of the anger he had provoked, Ono
slunk away to brood upon the insult.
When his father returned at night, Ono re^
peated Rima's words. " He called you a good-
for-nothing," he said.
Ono's father was not only a good-for-nothing,
he was also violent-tempered. The sneer roused
in him a fury of rage against the man who had
lent him his things so kindly and been a good
friend to him always.
He rushed out into the night and strode along
the river-bank, wondering how to be revenged on
the people who had angered him. " I wish I
could be rid of them," he said aloud.
" 1 will help you," said a voice.
He turned. A River-fairy stood beside him,
The Floating Island 227
one of that dark tribe who come only to those
whose thoughts are evil.
" You wish to be rid of some one ? " he asked.
The man pointed to Rima's home, standing with
three others on a point of land that stretched into
the river. " Those people have insulted me," he
said. " I wish to be rid of them."
" I will teach you a magic song that will carry
off that strip of land and send it floating down
the river to the sea," said the fairy.
" I will gladly learn it," said the man.
The fairy sang the song, and the man repeated
it until he knew it. " Stand on the hill behind
the land you wish to move, and sing the song until
the land goes floating down the river," said the
fairy. He disappeared into the water.
The man stood on the hill, singing the magic
song until the land broke loose and moved into
the current of the river. Louder and louder he
sang. The land, becoming a floating island,
passed down the tide and out into the open sea.
" Good ! " he said. " I am revenged." He
went home well pleased.
The people on the floating island woke in the
228 Maoriland Fairy Tales
morning to find themselves moving on the tossing
sea, drifting past the woods and mountains of their
home, far from all their friends.
The children wept, the mothers, pale with fear,
wailed mournfully, the fathers gravely faced the
situation. " Some enemy has worked a spell,"
said Rima's father. " But we have our homes,
our lines, our nets and gardens. We shall not
starve. Maybe we shall soon drift upon the
shore. In the meantime we can fish from our
floating island and be happy."
Rima ran to bring the lines. Soon everybody
was in good spirits, even enjoying their unheard-
of trip on a floating island. They fished, played
games, flew kites, watched the wonders of the sea
and sky, told the old stories of their country.
The mothers cooked ; when it rained they caught
water enough to last till the next shower.
Day after day they floated on, for three long
weeks. Up the east coast they went, along the
north, and down the west. In all this time no
storm had risen, no harm had come to them.
One morning a black cloud spread upwards
from the wide horizon. From the cloud came the
THE FLOATING ISLAND.
229
The Floating Island 231
wild west wind. The sea was lashed to foaming
waves ; the floating island fled heavily before the
storm.
Again the children would have wept with fear,
but the fathers said : " The wind drives us toward
the shore. We move to safety."
The children looked ahead. They were driving
fast upon a new land, wilder and more beautiful
than any they had passed. Mountain peaks
stood high against the sky ; down their wooded
sides dashed silvery cascades, falling to the sea.
Nearer they drew, till the island grounded on
the shelving beach. Rima sprang to the new
land, waving gay hands to urge the others on.
They followed, and would have entered the bush,
but Rima's father said: "Wait. There may be
hidden enemies. I will look."
Taking his weapons, he crept into the bush.
Presently he returned with the welcome news
that no signs of habitation were to be found.
" It is a new country," he said, " and a good one.
Here is water, and here are wild birds and berries
and the roots we eat. Living near the sea, we
shall not want fish. It is indeed a good land."
232 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Rearing a shelter of branches for the night,
they carried to it the things they valued from
their houses, for fear the island should float away.
Next day they took their strong stone axes, felled
trees, and began to build new houses.
They soon settled down in the new country,
growing up, marrying, building fresh homes, until
their families spread through all the land. They
have lived there ever since.
As for the island, it rested several days where
it had grounded, then slowly glided off and floated
out to sea again. Where it voyaged the people
never knew. Perhaps it is floating yet.
THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT
Far up amongst the highest mountains in the land
lived a giant, so huge that he could step from one
mountain-top to another, and so cruel that he
would eat a dozen people at a time. When he
woke from week-long sleeps and stepped down to
the plains for food the people of the country lived
in daily terror.
He found the princess wandering by herself,
but she was so beautiful that instead of eating her
he took her to his mountain-top to be a companion
to him. He placed a magic girdle round her waist,
tying the other end to his wrist.
" No weapon can cut your girdle ; only one
thing can break it," he said in his great voice.
" You cannot escape. Henceforth you belong
to me." The poor princess was heartbroken.
Cries and struggles, longings for her lost home
and friends, fear of the giant, filled her days.
233
234 Maoriland Fairy Tales
In her home there was great sorrow. King
and queen and people mourned her as one dead.
Word was sent to the prince of the next country,
he who was soon to have married her. He came
with all his weapons of war, prepared to climb
the mountains and brave the giant's power.
" It is a hopeless undertaking/' said the old
king. " No one has ever returned from the
giant's land. You go to certain death."
" I must make an attempt to rescue my prin-
cess," said the prince.
He climbed the mountains valiantly. At the
top he found the giant asleep, the princess sitting
beside him. Springing to her, he took her in his
arms and tried to drag her away.
The magic girdle held her. " You cannot set
me free," she sobbed. " Only one thing can
break this magic girdle, and that thing's name I
do not know."
" Perhaps its name is strength," said the prince.
He tried to wrench the girdle apart, but with all
his strength he could not break it.
" Perhaps it is my axe," he said, " my wonder-
axe that has done such mighty deeds." He tried
The Princess and the Giant 235
to cut it with his axe, but it would not be cut.
He tried every weapon in turn, but not one had
power to cut the girdle. The giant still slept on.
" You cannot save me," said the princess.
" Go away before the giant wakes."
" I will not leave you," said the prince. " I
stay with you till death." He sat beside her, and
for all her pleading would not leave her to her
fate.
Then the princess wept sorely, for sorrow that
her lover must surely die. As she wept, her tears
fell on the magic girdle. Strand by strand the
girdle broke and fell apart. Tears of love were
the magic power that alone could break the
girdle.
With staring eyes and beating hearts the lovers
watched it till the last strand parted and gave
way. Sobbing with joy, the princess sprang up
free, to hurry with her lover down the mountain-
side into the safety of her home.
When the giant woke and found the princess
gone, he stamped and roared and shook the moun-
tain-tops. But the east wind sprang up in his
strength, threw the giant on the mountain side,
p
236 Maoriland Fairy Tales
and held him there from following the prin-
cess.
11 Let us be married at once, that I may take
the princess to my country, far from the giant's
reach," said the prince.
The old king, full of joy at his daughter's safe
return, would have consented, but the priest
said : " Let no marriage take place until the
prince has rid us of this monster.,,
" How is it possible ? " asked the prince. " Is
it not true that no weapon of man has power to
harm him ? "
" Fire is the one force that has power over him,"
replied the priest. " You, who are brave, who
have not grown up in the fear of him, may do the
deed our warriors would not dare. Watch till he
sleeps, pile firewood round him, burn him where
he lies. Then you shall marry the princess.,,
The prince climbed the mountain once again,
hid, and watched until the giant slept. He piled
firewood round the monstrous form, and set it
blazing. The giant, helpless in the flames, was
burned to death.
When the prince returned the people mada
The Princess and the Giant 237
feasts in his honour. They danced and sang for
joy that their tyrant of the mountain-tops was
dead. The prince and princess were married and
lived happily together.
Up among the mountains a strange thing hap-
pened. Where the giant had lain a great hole
was burnt in the shape of his body as he lay on
his side with his knees drawn up. The mountains
sent down floods of melted snow, and rain, and
mists that fell like rain, to fill the gaping hole.
Soon where the giant had slept lay a deep blue
lake, touched here and there by the shadows of
the mountains.
But the giant's heart was not burnt. Fire had
no power over that. When the hole became a
lake the heart sank to the bottom, and there it
lies to this day. When the wild storms rage
among the mountains, and the foaming torrents
dash down their rocky paths as the giant loved to
see them in his fierce lifetime, the great heart lying
at the bottom of the water heaves and beats and
heaves again. And the blue lake rises and falls
in time to the heart's throbs.
HINEMOA' S SWIM
Hinemoa was the daughter of a king who lived
on the shores of a great lake in Maui's island. She
was so beautiful that all the surrounding princes
wished to marry her ; but she loved Tutanekai,
who was not a prince at all.
Tutanekai lived on an island in the lake. He
loved Hinemoa with all his heart, but because he
was a nobody the king would not hear of their
marriage. Indeed, he was so angry at the idea
that Hinemoa felt it was unsafe for Tutanekai to
come near her home. She sent a messenger to
tell him so.
By the messenger they arranged that some night
she should cross the lake in her canoe and be
married to Tutanekai in his own island. " Every
night," said Tutanekai, " I will sound my
horn from the hill on the island. You will know
239
240 Maoriland Fairy Tales
by that sound that I am waiting for you. Seize
your first chance to come away unseen."
So it was all arranged. Every night Tutanekai
sounded his horn till midnight to cheer and guide
Hinemoa if she should be on the lake. His friend
Tiki stood with him, playing on his flute to swell
the sound of Tutanekai's music.
But Hinemoa was not on the lake. Her father,
the stern old king, could hear the music quite as
well as she could. He suspected that it was a
signal, and that she meant to cross the lake to
Tutanekai. So he gave orders that every canoe
on the lake-side should be securely tied at night
and the paddles hidden. Though Hinemoa went
every night to the lake-side, she could never find
a canoe that she could use.
In the meantime Tutanekai waited and watched,
sending his beseeching music across the lake.
At last Hinemoa felt that she could wait
no longer. " I will swim across ! " she
said.
During the day she hid six large hollow gourds.
She strung them together with flax, three on each
side, so that they should act as a raft for her body
Hinemoa's Swim 241
when she was tired. At night she slipped into the
lake with her raft of gourds.
The sky was dark and starless ; the island was
so far away that she could not see it. No sound
broke the stillness of the lake till Tutanekai's music
suddenly floated across the water. Then Hinemoa
took courage and swam bravely out towards
it.
Evenly, strongly and quietly she swam for a
long time. When she wearied, she floated rest-
fully on her raft of gourds. So, swimming,
floating, she had voyaged half way, when suddenly
she felt that her strength was gone.
" I shall never reach the island," she said aloud.
" I can go no farther. The Taniwha will find me
here and kill me."
" Fear me not ! " It was the voice of the
Taniwha, that great monster who lived in the deep
waters of the lake. " Fear me not," he repeated.
" One so brave shall voyage safely. Here are
rocks. Rest fearlessly."
A cluster of rocks rose above the water, pushed
upward by the monster's kindly strength. Thank-
fully Hinemoa lay on them to rest.
242 Maoriland Fairy Tales
When her strength returned she went on her
dark way, fearless and calm once more.
It grew late. On the island Tutanekai said to
Tiki : " Hinemoa cannot be coming to-night.
They went home, not knowing that they were
leaving Hinemoa to swim in the great lonely lake
with no music to guide and cheer her.
Though her heart sank, she swam bravely on,
hoping that she should find the landing-place.
Presently, through the darkness, the island showed,
then she heard the tiny ripples breaking on the
shore.
She came to the landing-place. Close beside it
was a hot spring. She plunged into it, easing her
aching shoulders and warming her chilled body
in its healing waters.
" How shall I find Tutanekai ? " she thought.
While she wondered what to do a man came to
the lake for water. Hinemoa saw him, for the
moon had now risen. She knew him at once for
Tutanekai* s servant.
She thought of a plan to bring Tutanekai to the
spring. Speaking in a gruff voice like a man,
she said : " Give me water to drink."
Hinemoa's Swim 243
The servant, though startled at hearing a strange
voice from the spring, stooped and handed down
his calabash of water. Hinemoa took it, drank
the water, and smashed the calabash against
the rocks.
" Why did you do that ? " asked the servant
in dismay. Hinemoa gave no answer. He went
back to the house and told his master that a man
hidden in the spring had smashed the calabash.
" Take another," said his master.
Again the servant came, and again Hinemoa
begged a drink and smashed the calabash. Several
times it happened. The servant dared not refuse
a drink to a stranger.
At last Tutanekai, waiting in the house for his
water, flew into a rage at the loss of his calabashes.
He ran to the spring. " Come forth, the man
who broke my calabashes ! " he shouted.
" It is I, Tutanekai. It is Hinemoa," she said
softly.
How joyfully he took her home ! They were
married, and a great feast was made. Every-
body came to gaze on the lovely princess who had
braved the terrors of the dark lake for love of
244 Maoriland Fairy Tales
Tutanekai ; everybody praised her beauty and her
courage. News of her brave deed was carried to
her father, winning his forgiveness for her flight.
Tutanekai made his princess happy. He
snowed himself so noble and so strong that he
might just as well have been a prince. To this
day the descendants of the two are proud to tell
the tale of Hinemoa's swim.
Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner. Frome and London.
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Chas. G. D. Roberts's
Nature Books
Large Crown Svo. Cloth Gilt. Fully Illustrated. Pictorial
Endpapers. 5s. net.
A beautifully produced series of Animal Stories by a writer
who has succeeded in depicting the many thrilling incidents
connected with Animal Life with a realism unapproached by
any other living Author.
HOOF AND CLAW
THE HOUSE IN THE WATER
THE BACKWOODSMEN
KINGS IN EXILE
NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN
MORE KINDRED OF THE WILD
THE FEET OF THE FURTIVE
THE SECRET TRAILS
THE LEDGE ON BALD FACE
"Under the guidance of Mr. Roberts we have often ventured
among the wild beasts of the land and sea, and we hope to do so
many times in the future. It is an education not to be missed
by those who have the chance, and the chance is everyone's,
Mr. Roberts loves his wild nature, and his readers, both old and
young, should love it with him." — Athenaum.
WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON, E.C.4.
Popular Gift Books
Large Crown 8vo. Fully Illustrated. Cloth. 4s. net.
By ETHEL TURNER
Seven Little Australians
The Family at Misrule
The Little Larrikin
Miss Bobbie
Three Little Maids
Little Mother Meg
Mother's Little Girl
In the Mist of the
Mountains
Fugitives from Fortune
That Girl
The Secret of the Sea
The Apple of Happiness
Fair Ines
Flower o' the Pine
The Cub
John of Daunt
Captain Cub
St. Tom and the Dragon
Brigid and the Cub
Laughing Water
King Anne
Jennifer, J.
By LILIAN M. PYKE
Boonderong
Jack of St. Virgil's
Phyl of the Camp
A Prince at School
Bruce at
Camp
The Best School of All
Sheila at Happy Hills
By OTHER AUTHORS
VERA G. DWYER
Mona's Mystery Man
With Beating Wings
LILIAN TURNER
The Noughts and Crosses
An Australian Lassie
Peggy, the Pilot
EVELYN GOODE
The Childhood of Helen
JEAN CURLEWIS
The Ship that Never set
Sail
Drowning Maze
WARD LOCK & CO. LIMITED. LONDON. E.C.4.
STORIES BY
MARY GRANT BRUCE
Large Crown Svo. Fully Illustrated. Cloth. 4s. net.
" Mrs. Bruce has a story to tell, and she sets about doing it
in her own straightforward way, without resort to padding.
Her style is never laboured, it matches its subject in its natural-
ness. Smiles and tears, humour and pathos, blend in her books
as they do in life itself." — The Queen.
" There can be no doubt about the success of Mrs. Bruce. . . .
Her effects are obtained in a real natural way that makes them
all the more telling." — Melbourne Argus.
STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR.
BACK TO BILLABONG
DICK LESTER OF KURRAJONG
CAPTAIN JIM
DICK
'POSSUM
JIM AND WALLY
A LITTLE BUSH MAID
MATES AT BILLABONG
TIMOTHY IN BUSHLAND
GLEN EYRE
NORAH OF BILLABONG
GRAY'S HOLLOW
FROM BILLABONG TO LONDON
THE STONE AXE OF BURKAMUKK
A volume of Australian legends
WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON, E.C.4.
CHARMING STORIES BY
Isabel M. Peacocke
Fully Illustrated. Crown 8vo. Cloth. 4s. net.
QUICKSILVER
" The author's writing reveals a fine and keen faculty of obser-
vation and the power to express what she has observed very
neatly and with agreeable imaginative touches. This story is
much above the average books of its class. It has a distinct
artistic value."
GINGER
Yorkshire Observer. — " There is something of an old-fashioned
ring about Miss Peacocke's books ; they are so eminently healthy
and intelligible, they contain no mysteries, no problems other
than the old, old story of love and its vagaries."
THE MISDOINGS OF MICKY AND MAC
Scots Pictorial. — " Here is a capital story for boy or girl,
in many ways about as good an appreciation of the young
' pickle ' as was ever penned. ..."
ROBIN OF THE ROUND HOUSE
Miss Peacocke must take her place amongst that small group of
talented Australasian women who have already done so much
to portray child-life " down under."
PATRICIA— PAT
Argus (Melbourne). — " . . . Miss Peacocke knows just how
to make a pleasant sentimental story out of a situation like this,
making it a background for her picture of a little girl, Pat, who
is just as sweet and loving and natural a little girl as possible."
MY FRIEND PHIL
Queensland Times. — " A really delicious book . . . without
doubt the best since Ethel Turner took the reading world by
storm with her ' Seven Little Australians.' ..."
DICKY, [KNIGHT'ERRANT
Melbourne Age. — " Miss Peacocke is heartily to be congratu-
lated on the tone and ability of her book."
WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON, E.C.4.
WARD, LOCK & CO.'S
LILY SERIES
Crown 8vo. Beautifully bound in Cloth, with attractive pictorial
design and Book Envelope in colour. Frontispiece also in colour.
25. 6d. net.
The world changes — new times, new manners, new writers of
books, new buyers of books — but there are certain old favourites
the demand for which not only does not diminish, but tends
steadily to increase. The Lily Series is designed to present
such volumes in the most attractive modern form at the lowest
possible price. Forty volumes now ready ; many others in
preparation.
1 ROBINSON CRUSOE Daniel Defoe
2 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN Mrs. H. B. Stowe
3 LITTLE WOMEN L. M. Alcott
4 GOOD WIVES L. M. Alcott
5 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES —
6 FROM LOG-CABIN TO WHITJi HOUSE W. M. Thayer
7 THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD Elizabeth Wetherell
8 GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES _
9 THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS * John Bunyan
io WHAT KATY DID Susan Coolidge
11 THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS —
12 TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS Thomas Hughes
13 ST. ELMO A. J. Evans Wilson
1 4 ALICE IN WONDERLAND Lewis Carroll
15 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE Charles and Mary Lamb
1 6 THE CORAL ISLAND R. M. Ballantyne
17 ^SOP'S FABLES —
{Continued on next page.)
WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON, E.C.4.
WARD, LOCK & CO.'S
LILY SERIES
(Continued.)
Crown Svo. Beautifully bound in Cloth, with attractive pictorial
design and Book Envelope in colour. Frontispiece also in colour.
2s. 6d. net.
1 8 HELEN'S BABIES
19 TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES
20 ST. WINIFRED'S
21 WHAT KATY DID AT SCHOOL
22 INFELICE
23 THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
24 THE LAMPLIGHTER
25 ERIC
26 THE BASKET OF FLOWERS
27 THE DOG CRUSOE
28 DAISY
29 AT THE MERCY OF TIBERIUS
30 THE THREE MIDSHIPMEN
31 DAISY IN THE FIELD
32 EAST LYNNE
33 BEULAH
34 BARRIERS BURNED AWAY
35 JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN
36 THE GORILLA HUNTERS
37 A RING OF RUBIES
38 MACARIA
39 MONICA
40 BEN-HUR
John Habberton
UNDER THE SEA
Jules Verne
F. W. Farrar
Susan Coolidge
A. J. Evans Wilson
Miss Cummins
F. W. Farrar
G. T. Bedell
R. M. Ballantyne
Elizabeth Wetherell
A. J. Evans Wilson
W. H. G. Kingston
Elizabeth Wetherell
Mrs. Henry Wood
A. J. Evans Wilson
E. P. Roe
Mrs. Craik
R. M. Ballantyne
Mrs. L. T. Meade
A. J. Evans Wilson
E. Everett-Green
Lew Wallace
WARD. LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON, E.C.4.
THE
Little Wonder Books
A VERY POPULAR SERIES OF HUMOROUS
STORIES FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
By HARRY GOLDING
(Editor of the Wonder Books.)
Medium i6mo, Picture Boards. 2s, net.
The Little Wonder Books are not for big boys and girls
at all ; they are the little ones' very own. Each contains
about Thirty Illustrations in colour, printed on the very
best art paper, and the type is so large and clear that it
will not baffle even the tiniest toddler. Best of all, the
stories are real stories, such as little people love and learn
by heart almost without knowing they do so.
Illustrated by
i BOBBY BUN AND BUNTY
M. M. Rudge and D. E. Braham
2 THE BROWNIES' BIRTHDAY Thomas Maybank
4 TIM TUBBY TOES M. M. Rudge and D. E. Braham
5 MOTHER GOOSE Margaret W. Tarrant
6 TICK, TACK AND TOCK Thomas Maybank
7 BULLY BOY : The Story of a Bulldog Arthur W. Cooke
8 ROBBIE AND DOBBIE G. B. Shepheard
9 BEN BOS'UN : A Tale of the King's Navee
G. E. Shepheard
ii BUBBLE AND SQUEAK Thomas Maybank
13 OLD NOT-TOO-BRIGHT AND LILYWHITE
G. E. Shepheard
14 THE GOBLIN SCOUTS Thomas Maybank
15 THE MOTOR BOY G. E. Shepheard
16 WILLIE WINKIE Margaret W. Tarrant
WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON, E.C.4.
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